Bexhill Utd cemented their position in the upper reaches of the Southern Combination Premier Division on Saturday afternoon with a hard fought win over in-form Horsham YM in front of a crowd of 258.

With many taking up the offer of ‘Football For A Fiver’ a first experience of the game at the famous Polegrove ground resulted in three more points for the Pirates cause.

It was clear from well before kick off that the tail end of Storm Amy, and a particularly strong wind whipping in from the West would have a part to play as both sides struggled to adapt and get a rhythm going in the early exchanges.

Ryan Moir tried his luck with a trademark drive from the edge of the box on ten minutes but his effort was a foot over the YM crossbar. The visitors had the wind with them and used it to their advantage as you’d expect, Dansoko rattling the bar on 17 minutes and the lively Adam Adam just failing to connect with the rebound.

Bexhill defended well in the conditions, but the back line was breached on 23 minutes by the debuting Adam who picked the ball up on the left and broke through to drive the ball into the bottom corner.

Horsham almost doubled their lead a couple of minutes later but a brilliant save from Stef Akras from Abubakari denied them at what could have been a pivotal point in the match.

Horsham kept coming forward but the Pirates should firm with Dan Rogers throwing himself in the way of every threat of danger as the visitors looked to the wind advantage count. But the next goal came at the other end and on the stroke of half time, Jaan Stanley battled to win the ball back and his brilliant pass set away Charlie Curran who precision finish levelled the scores.

Bexhill went into the interval with the momentum and came out with the wind quite literally in the Pirates sails as play see-sawed up and down the park. The hosts skipper Richie Welch kept his side in the hunt for three points with a couple of last ditch blocks on the line as Horsham posed a constant threat.

Neither side were settling for a point and the winning goal came close to the end of normal time. Pirates keeper Akras sent the ball forward, the wind carrying it to Moir and as his header flicked off the keeper Theo Coombs was in the right place to put the ball in the back of the Horsham net.

Players and supporters celebrated wildly, but the Pirates had to navigate plenty of extra time to secure the three points, Max Hollobone shown a straight red card for what the referee adjudged to be a dangerous two footed foul, the ten men of Bexhill holding out to claim what could be an important victory in the context of the season.

Courtesy of Geoff Martin.