After the historic trip to Guernsey last weekend, it was back to business at the Polegrove for Bexhill Utd on Saturday afternoon with the visit of relegation threatened Shoreham.

The Musselmen have found life difficult this season, shipping goals by the gallon in the opening months of the campaign including a 4-1 defeat to the Pirates back in November.

But the Southern Combination Premier Division can be a funny old league and there’s previous when it comes to clubs who look like they are dead and buried at Christmas before pulling off the great escape.

Shoreham certainly showed they’ve got a bit of fight still left in them with a victory over fellow strugglers Lancing a few weeks back, but they still have a mountain to climb to make survival.

Bexhill went into the game as firm favourites and as they set about the match it didn’t look like an upset was on the cards. The Pirates bombarded the Shoreham with wave after wave of attacks and what felt like at least a dozen corners in rapid succession.

But football is about scoring goals, not dominance and possession and despite battering away at the door Bexhill couldn’t find a way through. But on 20 minutes, they finally got their breakthrough, good perseverance from Will Saunders saw him brought down in the box and Jack Shonk stepping up to score from the spot.

It felt like that goal might open the floodgates, but Shoreham stood firm to the challenge. Dale Penn thought he’d found the net on the half hour mark but somehow Shoreham keeper Jack Wyatt managed to tip the ball onto the bar, the keeper also pulling off a blinding save when Saunders went through one on one with him.

When the whistle went for half time the expectation around the Polegrove was that Bexhill would come out and kill the game off but Shoreham had other ideas. Just minutes after the restart, Allesandro Colombini pulled them level and shifted the balance of the game with Shoreham having something to cling onto.

Bexhill huffed and puffed but some of the spark had disappeared and the frustration of chasing the game was becoming too obvious. But as clock wound down the Pirates won a second penalty, this time however Wyatt sussed out Shonk and beat away his shot.

Not much action was to follow and a hard fought precious point for Shoreham but a frustrating afternoon for the hosts.

Next Saturday afternoon the Polegrove plays host to the final home game of the season to be played there as Non League Day on Saturday 28th March sees Wick head to Brockley Road with a ‘Pay What You Like’ offer and a fundraiser for the important work of the Sussex Heart Charity.

Courtesy of Geoff Morris.