Ten-man Bexhill United win on return to action

On a really tricky surface neither team could play the kind of football they would have liked and a fairly even first half ensued without too much incident in either goal mouth.

The second half was a much livelier affair and it turned into a game of attack vs defence for long periods. Bexhill turned up the heat on the visitors with the best chance of the opening hour ending with a dangerous cross from the left being saved brilliantly from a Evan Archibald attempt from six yards out.

The pressure continued and two identical corner deliveries from Max Walsh were cleared off the goal line from the Peacehaven defence despite appeals the ball had crossed the line from the Bexhill players and supporters.

The break through finally arrived with five minutes to go. A Max Walsh free kick struck the Peacehaven wall and dropped to the feet of the impressive Tom Vickers who smashed the ball home to give Bexhill the victory.

Peacehaven threw caution to the wind and prompted numbers forward in the last few minutes to try and rescue a point. During this period Bexhill’s Nathan Lopez was given a straight red card for a rather crude tackle out wide as the Peacehaven winger ventured forward.

The final whistle was met with cheers from the home crowd and extended the Pirates unbeaten league run to an impressive 18 games.

Bexhill boss Ryan Light said: "Having not played for a few weeks the first half an hour looked exactly like I thought it would, we huffed and puffed but we were a little disjointed.

"We changed the shape after about 20 minutes and that served us better as the game went on.

"I thought we showed far more grit and desire in the second half and thoroughly deserved the win despite leaving it late to score.

"Peacehaven are very organised and came into the game on good form after picking up points against Newhaven and Saltdean so we knew that it was going to be a tough afternoon, which made the result even more pleasing."

The Pirates visit Hassocks this Saturday.