Bexley maintained their 100% record in rather fortuitous fashion with a dog eared 1-0 home victory over New London. The win maintains Bexley’s second place in the league, but with Greenwich Mariners dropping two points today, Bexley sit just one behind with a game in hand.
Pete fielded a strong team with most playing in their natural positions. However Bexley were outpassed, outpaced, and outplayed across all areas of the pitch. Bexley had little to show for their first half efforts except for set piece wastage and rookie lapses in concentration. New London will look back and feel the game should have been over by half time; with two free headers and a one versus one all missing the target. The away side pressed Bexley into errors, were more dominant in the air and were playing good football; but they had yet to produce an end product to their good play. They had a physicality to their game and were not afraid to bring down the Bexley forwards.
The half time inquest was detailed. Bexley needed to re-think and re-group or a loss was surely inevitable. The momentum did not change, and the game was becoming very much a rear guard effort. However, a chink in the New London armour was surely the rookie keeper and this proved to be the case. Matt and Elton linked up, and with everyone shouting shoot they showed composure to work the ball into a decent position. Matt’s shot found it’s way through the keeper and Bexley had a very undeserved lead.
It would have been harsh on New London to concede more goals, but Elton and Olly would both have golden opportunities to secure the win, and Mark would see a well hit free kick hit the ball. The Bexley bus was parked in the final fifteen minutes, as Laurence, Ryan and Matt sacrificed their attacking duties. But Bexley were riding their luck, as Laurie’s short back pass almost resulted in a charge down and another completely free header was wasted. Dan made two crucial point blank saves late on to retain the clean sheet as Bexley limped to one of their luckiest ever wins.
