10-man Bexhill beaten by Langney

The Pirates had Jamie Morgan sent-off in added time at the end of the first half with the score 1-1 and went on to lose 4-2 at home to Langney Wanderers on a wet night at The Polegrove.

Langney made the early running and Wayne Wilkinson was inches away from getting on the end of Paul Weatherby’s cross in the opening 30 seconds.

But Bexhill opened the scoring against the run of play in the eighth minute. Nathan Lopez raced clear down the right amid unsuccessful Langney appeals for offside and squared for Ryan Harffey to slot into an empty net for his first Bexhill goal.

Bexhill seemed to warm to the task after going in front and almost added a second when Drew Greenall did well to beat his man on the right and pull the ball back for Morgan, who drove just wide.

Gary Ingram was just off target from another Weatherby cross at the other end before Langney levelled in the 20th minute. A well-worked move down the away right ended with Wilkinson playing a low ball across goal for Shane Saunders to tap home.

Ryan Alexander’s shot following a free kick into the Bexhill box deflected over and Saunders couldn’t quite force home a Weatherby free kick at the far post.

Morgan had a great chance to restore Bexhill’s advantage in added time at the end of the half, but having latched on to Chris Rea’s long ball over the top, saw his shot saved by the goalkeeper’s feet.

Morgan’s first appearance since rejoining Bexhill at the end of last week ended seconds later when he was shown a straight red card after challenging for an aerial ball in the Langney box.

A man down, the second half was always going to be a tall order for Bexhill and their task became even tougher when they fell behind in the 47th minute. Ingram squeezed his way in behind the home defence and neatly lifted the ball over goalkeeper Dan Rose as he came out.

Wilkinson’s goalbound shot deflected away for a corner as Langney unsuccessfully appealed for a penalty and moments later Rose made a good save with his legs from the same player.

Langney went 3-1 up in the 67th minute when Ingram let fly from approaching 30 yards and his shot bounced up into the corner of the net.

The game rather meandered to a predictable outcome after that, although Corey Wheeler looked bright after coming on as a substitute for Bexhill.

Wilkinson had a glorious chance to make it 4-1, but fired over with only Rose to beat. Bexhill then pulled one back in the third minute of added time as Connor Robertson’s cross from the right was headed into his own net by Craig Fullerton.

Langney put the outcome beyond doubt just seconds later, however, as Wilkinson drove a low shot into the far corner with just about the last kick of the game.

Bexhill: Rose, Kidman (McGuigan 59), Rea, McFarlane, Robertson, Holden, Lopez, Giles (Wheeler 59), Greenall, Morgan, Harffey (Butchers 85). Sub not used: Ottley.