Bexhill College Men’s 1st team, in association with Chelsea Football Club Foundation and in partnership with Eastbourne Borough Football Club, suffered a 4-2 defeat in their final National League U19 Alliance fixture against Worthing.
Both teams went into the game with little to play for in terms of league position, with the home side sitting in 7th and the visitors Worthing in 5th, but you wouldn’t have thought nothing was riding on the game case in the early exchanges. The home side settled into the game quicker and created some half chances which were dealt with comfortably by the visiting goalkeeper. Confidence was growing for Eastbourne and midway through the half, they opened the goalscoring. Harry Marchant’s inswinging corner from the right beat everyone to end up in the back of the net, cue the celebrations from the home side and an inquest amongst themselves from the visitors.
The goal seemed to spark Worthing into life, with the away team dominating the next 15 minutes. And the pressure eventually got too much. With 10 minutes to go, they levelled things up, a ball into the box from the right was headed home inside the 6-yard box beyond the dive of Hobden. Eastbourne responded well and had started to deal with the excellent rotations that Worthing possessed. They finished the half the stronger team but couldn’t find the goal to get them ahead again, with the score all square at the interval.
The second half started fairly evenly with both teams having moments but neither being able to dominate the proceedings. That was until Worthing gained the upper hand, taking the lead just before the hour mark. It didn’t take them too long to extend their lead but not without some controversy. Pollitt attempted to play a pass back to Rivers at centre back, but the Worthing attacker, attempting to intercept the pass, was able to get his toe to the ball, diverting the pass into the path of the Worthing centre forward who was in an offside position. The linesman’s flag stayed down, and the centre forward went through and finished calmly. The officials deemed the touch on the ball wasn’t a deliberate attempt of a pass and therefore the attacker was deemed as onside.
The response from Eastbourne was immediate when 90 seconds later Sonny Walsh found himself in behind the back line and pulled the ball back for substitute Will Harley who smashed home at the near post beyond the goalkeeper. With the scoreline 3-2 and little over 20 minutes to go, the home side had renewed hope of getting something out of the game. Both sides had chances to add to their goal tally but found no way past their opponents’ keeper. With the minutes ticking away, Eastbourne committed more men to the attack to try and find a leveller, leaving themselves vulnerable to a counterattack. The three points for the away side were sealed with a few minutes to go, taking advantage of a counter-attacking opportunity to score their 4th of the game. As the full-time whistle was blown the curtain came down on another action-packed season.
Coach Shane Lovell said “The boys applied themselves and contested really well in a game against a very good side who make it so difficult for you, so they deserve credit for that. We must thank all the boys for their efforts this season and especially to the 2nd years who will be moving on. We thank them for everything they’ve given over the last couple of years and wish them all the best in their next chapters”.
Player of the Match: Harry Marchant – Dealt well with the threat of Worthing’s front line for large parts of the game at both LWB and CB and scorer of the first goal.
Eastbourne Borough Team: Hobden, Howard, Collings, Rivers, Ketchell, Marchant, Duah, Pollitt, Gibson, Walsh, Wood.
Subs: Scullion, Neal, Karapetyan, Harley.
For more information about the Football Academy, please visit: https://www.bexhillcollege.ac.uk/sports-clubs-and-academies/football-academies/
