It stopped snowing, the pitch dried up, and the lines were painted, no reason for this Fred Jolly cup match not to go ahead. Bexley were the away side at hall place, and had to suffer the discomfort of changing room 13 and the unfamiliarity of the blue kit.
Olly returned from the African Cup of Nations to take his place on the bench. The starting XI was relatively familiar. The conditions were poor; wet, cold and blustering with the wind in Bexley’s faces in the first half. This contributed to the game being a poor spectacle. Bexley came close from their first corner, with a near post flick on skewing agonisingly across goal; but Bourne United would use the conditions to their advantage and took the game to their higher league opponents.
Loose pass backs from Holiday partners Kev and Mark caused further problems at the back. Bourne United did not capitalise on their possession, only forcing one shot on target. Dan’s short kicks not helped by the wind meant Bexley had to be disciplined in defence. A notable sliding tackle from Lee at the end of the half prevented Bourne being in on the keeper. Laurence and Elton had worked themselves into threatening positions, but equally as good sliding tackles prevented them from getting a shot in.
A cautious atmosphere at half time as Bexley were aware that they were second best. However, much of Bourne Athletics’ game was relying on using the conditions to hit long balls. This could not be achieved as well in the second half. Bexley still played far below their potential, with passing not linking as well as previous games. However a passing move that did work out edged Bexley into the lead. James now on the right bent a ball into Elton who took the shot early, catching the keeper flat footed and netting for his team.
Bourne responded admirably but could only manage a curled shot narrowly wide. Bexley then came close to doubling the lead when a bundle up front fell to Matty B’s right foot who rifled the ball against the bar. Goal line technology would have proved the whole ball was not over the line. The home side were gradually losing their discipline with the referee, and this lapse in concentration would cost them when a poor pass back from the centre half sold the keeper short and failed to deal with the situation. Elton was the only player alive in the fascinate, and managed to steal the ball and score despite the efforts of the on rushing player. 7th Goal of the season for Lewis, who is working is way back into favour with manager Baulsom, after an injury hit start to the season. This was no more evident than when the striker went down, the gaffer was quickly on scene to give him the care and attention he required.
Right footed Olly was introduced with 25 minutes to go as Bexley were set to see the game out with professionalism. Mark had other ideas after making the most of clear foul, the left mid went one better by performing a dive Tom Daley would have been proud of. “Forward two and a half rotation with dramatics” was the move pulled off; ambitious as it carried a high level of difficulty, but Mark who is experienced in this skill, uted the dive well.
Bexley face bottom team Advent Royals next week, providing an ideal opportunity to put pressure on Barca above them who have a tricky fixture against Meridian Athletic.
