Bexley Athletic maintained their unbeaten league record with a gritty 2-2 draw against JAM FC B in treacherous conditions at Hall Place. Despite James Hall praying for the game to be abandoned, the referee deemed the pitch playable. With Elton away, James and Laurence formed the front line with Steve coming in for Lee at centre back. Mark forgot to hand the captains arm band back to Steve, how forgetful of him?
The conditions made the game very difficult for both teams, chances were at a premium for the ninety minutes, particularly for Bexley. There was a temptation to start playing the long diagonal balls, but this wasn’t the day to be running onto lofted balls. The game was a bit of a nil contest in the early stages was both teams rather cancelling eachother out trying to get to grips with the conditions. Defensive mistakes were made at both ends, but mopped up by covering team mates so nothing to report.
Jam had the first meaningful attempt on goal. The cut in from their right hand side and struck left footed into the far corner. The save in response from Dan was a bordering world class. The next goalmouth action would see the ball in the net, and it more importantly, it would go in the Jam FC net. Long kick by Dan (well over the half way line!) helped on by James and Laurence was clean through. He showed great composure with his first two touches to keep the ball away from the covering defenders, and then finished with a low shot with his left foot.
A hammer blow for Bexley as they would lose this lead just before half time in dubious circumstances. A free kick went out of play after a double deflection, the last of which clearly came off a Jam player. Nonetheless, the referee awarded a corner. It was delivered, Dan was beaten to the ball by an unmarked player and the scores were level going into half time.
Pete made a change at the break, Adam came on for the clearly fatigued Sam. Bexley required more width from the wide players to give the men in the middle more space in the middle to exploit. The weather conditions showed no sign of improving as the second half begun, with Jam stating their intentions with an early shot on target. The game was similar to the first half with the game very much even. Then a stroke of luck fell Bexley’s way, evening up the decision from earlier. Corner delivered by Mark amongst a load of bodies, James got to the ball and struck the ball against the hand of a defender from point blank range. A very harsh penalty awarded, and dispatched confidently into the roof of the net by James in slippery conditions.
This opened the game up a little as Jam looked to hit back. Rob was being worked hard down the left had side, in the same way Louis and Laurie were in the middle. Bexley were grateful for Steve’s expertise alongside Kev for keeping the opposition at bay. But the warning signs were obvious as Jam were getting closer. When Jam got in from the right, a header was glanced inches over.
The inevitable occurred shortly after, and to be fair it was a decent goal. Bexley found themselves overloaded out wide and it was a pin point cross. Kev was caught ball watching momentarily; and that combined with Mark feeding him too much pizza over recent weeks meant the centre back struggled to get the extra weight off the ground. The header directed powerfully into the far corner was everything as good of the cross.
This made the closing stages of the game an interesting affair. Both teams were looking for the winner, but seemingly unwilling to risk losing the game. Jam would have a free kick query on target, with James and Louis both shooting from range but unable to hit the target. Louis and Adam were both using their skill and pace to start counter attacks, but there was no end product. Dan got away with dropping a ball on the edge of the box thanks to an influx of covering defenders, and Jam had a further chance with their main striker who chipped narrowly wide. This game of attacking ping-pong continued right until the whistle, as Jam had another shot from the edge of the box held by the keeper, and Rob attempt from close range stopped by a great save before the offside flag stopped play.
A decent result. In dry conditions that would surely have been a Bexley win. Unbeaten five games in...not bad for newly promoted team.
