After two fine wins on the bounce, Bexhill Utd went to the weekend game with an unchanged side and full of confidence ahead of the historic trip to Guernsey next weekend.

With a two hundred plus crowd in at the Polegrove on a dry, early spring day, everything was set fair for a good afternoon of football in front of the Pirates faithful.

Bexhill certainly started on the front foot against a Roffey side who have also had a bit of a mixed bag of a season, and who started the day just below the hosts in the middle of the Southern Combination Premier Division.

For the first 45 minutes, the home side had the better of the action around the Boars goalmouth, visiting keeper Monty Watson-Price pulled off a number of quality saves including one crucial effort when he was one on one with Jack Shonk.

But it was far from one way traffic and his opposite number Finn Holter needed his wits about him to claw away a Roffey effort on 20 minutes.

As the first half entered stoppage time it looked nailed on for a scoreless line at the interval but Ash Mutongerwa had different ideas.

Picking the ball up on the right of the Bexhill box there appeared to be no danger until he clipped the sweetest of strikes past the outstretched fingers of Holter and into the top corner. It truly was the kind of moment of individual brilliance that turns games on their head and so was to prove.

Bexhill have established a reputation as second half experts this season but although they came out with every intention of turning around the half time deficit they found themselves running into brick walls, Roffey set up to defend their lead and did so very effectively.

In the final few minutes Bexhill produced a couple of last gasp attacks that might have dug out out a point but it wasn’t to be, the hosts left rueing the earlier missed chances.

Now the Pirates regroup for the early start and the flight to Guernsey on Saturday where a travelling army of around 50 fans are expected to make the journey and cheer on the side on what will be a first overseas fixture for the club.

Courtesy of Geoff Morris.