It was back down the coast to West Sussex on Saturday for Bexhill Utd and a trip to the County FA Headquarters to face Lancing in the Southern Combination Premier Division.

The Lancers have had a tough start to the season with just one point on the board from their early matches leaving them rock bottom of the division, parting company with manager Dean Cox days before the Pirates visit.

For the first 15 minutes the home team held their own but then all hell was let loose in a nine minute blitz from Bexhill which saw Jaan Stanley, who had been drafted back into the starting line up, wrap up a hat-trick.

First, a good ball over the top of the defence from Charlie Curran was picked up wide by Ryan Moir, his ball into Jack Shonk was teed up for Stanley to open the scoring. Two minutes later Curran was on the assist list as Stanley lobbed the keeper brilliantly.

His third came on 22 minutes when he picked up the ball from Shonk, drove in from the right hand side and squeezed a shot pas the keeper from a narrow angle.

Bexhill’s travelling supporters were willing midfielder Kyle Holden to get his name on the scoresheet when he got his head down with the ball but saw his shot smash back off the post.

On 41 minutes Lancing were reduced to ten men after a reckless challenge on Stanley left the referee with no alternative after consultation with his assistant and a red card brandished.

After treatment Stanley turned provider, setting up Moir who whipped in another great strike across the keeper which went in after clipping the post.

On the stroke of half time Lancing had one back, Kane Louis pulling down a cross and crashing the ball past Stef Akras into the roof of the net.

Just after half time the Lancers further reduced the deficit when an error at the back allowed them to break through the defensive lines and chalk up a second.

But any faint hope the Lancers had of clawing their way back into the game was extinguished a couple of minutes later when Curran made no mistake from a beautifully weighted Max Hollobone pass.

The game went into a relative period calm until the 85th minute when a fierce drive from Dale Penn was touched in by Shonk for number six.

Bexhill though were quite finished yet and were rewarded with another goal in injury time, Will Saunders back in the squad after injury wrapped things up with a lovely finish.

It was a thoroughly professional performance from the Pirates and sets them up nicely for their next home match this coming weekend as they host Horsham YM, ‘Football For A Fiver’ with reduced admission set to bring a bumper crowd to the Polegrove.

Courtesy of Geoff Martin.