Bexhill Back to Winning Ways

By BornATotter (Geoff Martin, Bexhill United correspondent)
Peter Bentley Cup

Seaford 2 Bexhill United 3 — Peter Bentley Cup

There was little time for Bexhill United to rue the midweek “smash and grab” defeat to Varndeanians as they were back on the road along the coast again on Saturday afternoon to take on Seaford in the Peter Bentley Cup at their temporary home — Newhaven’s Fort Road.

Recent signings Josh Tuck and Luke Donaldson had both picked up knocks in the Varndeanians game and were missing from the squad. Dale Penn dropped back into central defence and Theo Coombs and Ryan Moir both returned to the starting line-up. New boy Sean Agun was added to the bench.

Bexhill showed their intent on just five minutes, when they broke through at pace with Ass Latuske and Ryan Moir linking up well to set up Max Hollobone for a shot which was well saved by Toby Whiteside in the Seaford goal.

The Pirates didn’t need to wait much longer for the breakthrough as from the resulting Hollobone corner it was Callum Brand who rose above the defensive pack to head the ball back across the goal and into the top corner.

On eight minutes Bexhill snatched a second. Great persistence from Theo Coombs saw him win the ball, drive forward and release Jack Shonk who teed it up on a plate for Moir to sweep the ball home.

Bexhill kept coming in a push to kill off the game and on twelve minutes good work by Harry Marchant down the left set up Latuske who saw his shot just clear the bar.

At two nil, Seaford weren’t out of the picture and on eighteen minutes it was Finn Holter who was called upon to protect the Bexhill lead with a fine save at the other end of Fort Road. Holter pulled off another good save just before the break as the score remained with the Pirates two up as the ref blew for half time. But Seaford had sent them a warning.

Fans had barely had a chance to get back from the tea bar before the balance of the contest shifted. At two nil the next goal is always crucial and it came for Seaford within minutes of the restart with Bexhill failing to clear their lines leaving Callum Connor with space to ram the ball home from close range. It gave the home side the confidence and the momentum to chase an equaliser.

When it came it was from a penalty with the striker making the most of a trailing leg and Connor again stepping up to strike the ball home from the spot to bring Seaford back onto level terms.

Bexhill may have thought they had the game won at two nil but now they would have to regroup and set themselves up to win the game all over again.

Charlie Playford, Tom Vickers and the returning Jack Samways were all drafted in from the bench and the changes injected some new energy into the Pirates’ play. There was also a warm welcome for Sean Agun, making his Pirates debut.

The killer punch came on 83 minutes. Sheer persistence from Moir saw him chase down a long ball over the top, shrug off a fifty-fifty with the defender and clip the ball over Whiteside and into the net. It was a classy way for Bexhill to take themselves forwards into the next round of the Cup and there was little further drama as the clock wound down to the final whistle.

Bexhill are back in action with a rare Friday night “home” game against Roffey in the league which will be played at Little Common.

First published in Dugout News, Issue 3, 23 August 2026. Republished here in full.