Bexhill boss lauds team after 8-0 win

The Pirates scored four goals in either half to go one better than their 7-0 thrashing of Oakwood on the opening day of the Macron Store Southern Combination League Division One season.

Light said: “I thought we were magnificent. This for me was better than Oakwood because of the circumstances. The conditions dictated that across the county there will be games of two halves going on because the wind was so strong.

“It was a conscious decision to go with the wind in the first half. I hoped we would get our noses in front, but to get four goals was a bonus and gave us a bit of daylight.

“We thought we would have 45 minutes of being under the cosh in the second half. We said to shorten it up and I thought we did that really well. We played some really nice football and worked the ball up the pitch nicely. I was delighted with how we played.

“We played differently in the two halves and I was equally impressed with us in both.”

Wayne Giles, revelling in his new role up-front, led the rout with his first four goals of the campaign, but Light also singled out goalkeeper Dan Rose, who pulled off three marvellous saves, for special mention.

“The hardest thing to do in football is put the ball in the back of the net and Wayne’s finishing was really clinical,” continued Light.

“Dan Rose has been excellent in the last four games, and even today he pulls off a worldy of a save, and his handling and distribution in the conditions were brilliant.”

The victory - and manner of it - was exactly what Bexhill needed after picking up just four points from their previous five league fixtures, three of which had ended in home losses.

“It’s two weeks overdue,” Light went on. “We expected to come home this month and start putting some results together. All the goals have come in one game for us, but we’re delighted to finally get that home win and in emphatic style.

“We’ve played better in the early part of the season, but it’s the most disciplined performance we’ve put in considering we were up against the conditions.”

Bexhill will now be eager to put together a consistent run of results in order to climb the table from their present position of seventh.

Up next is a trip to 15th-placed Storrington tomorrow (Saturday). Storrington have taken 10 points from their 12 games so far and lost 3-1 at home to Bexhill’s crosstown rivals Little Common last weekend.

“We need to get those back-to-back wins in,” added Light. “Isolated victories are not really any good to us. We need to put two back-to-back wins together, then get a third win, and then start moving up the table. Isolated wins mean you end up mid-table and that’s what we did last year.”

Nathan Lopez has become the second Bexhill player - after Drew Greenall - to end up in a protective boot, although the midfielder’s ankle ligament injury is only expected to sideline him for around a fortnight. Kyle Holden has one more game to run on his suspension.