Three Bridges 2
Leighton 56′, Hallard 90′
Jersey Bulls 2
Queree (pen) 15′, Bickley 68′
JEP Player of the Match: Lorne Bickley
IT’S ONE of those classic lines in football. ‘If I offered you a point now, would you take it?’
Now, if you were partial to a flutter, you’d have probably made a few quid if you’d asked Elliot Powell that pre-game. Away from home against one of the division’s early pacesetters, on a Tuesday night, with a depleted squad? Pragmatism first.
The fact the Islanders were minutes away from claiming all three points shows how far this group has come in a short period of time. Yes, a Three Bridges defeat would have been unjust – impartiality first here – but there was so much to admire about the Bulls.
A James Queree penalty put the visitors ahead early in Sussex, and they largely enjoyed the better of an entertaining opening 45 minutes.
Miguel Carvalho and Rai Dos Santos both had sighters of goal and while Three Bridges, just three points off top spot with a game in hand on leaders Croydon Athletic, grew into the game heading into the break, Powell’s men were good for their lead.
One of the learning curves the Bulls have had to navigate since stepping up into this level of football is accepting less of the ball for long periods in games, and that is what happened as the game wore on at Jubilee Field.
Home captain Noel Leighton headed home a deserved equaliser from close range as the pressure on the Bulls goal grew and while they always had a willing out-ball in Lorne Bickley – who won the earlier penalty – they were increasingly embattled.
Bridges are a side which is easy on the eye, deploying a high-tempo, quick movement game, with willing runners right across the park.
Nabeel Ghannam was the latest to inject a shot of adrenaline into their collective arm but just as they settled into a groove, it was him again, Bickley, who delivered a moment of magic.
Dos Santos’ pass sent the Bulls centre-forward slightly away from goal, Bickley intelligently coming back inside before unleashing high into the Bridges’ net with a sublime left-footed strike.
It was a moment of real quality which the Bulls will need more of to unlock defences at this level although to the credit of the hosts, they didn’t let that throw them off their stride.
With the game ticking into its closing stages and the Bulls doing everything – including racking up a spate of yellow cards – to cling on to what they had, they were undone right at the death.
Reece Hallard came in off the Bulls right to smack one across goal and past Euan van der Vliet, who will no doubt feel he should have done better to deal with the strike. He may possibly have been unsighted by his captain Queree attempting to close down Hallard, but a man of van der Vliet’s quality will be in reflective mood this week.
Not surprisingly given the confidence in their group, Bridges sought a winner, which would have been cruel on the Bulls, but, as it was, that was that.
‘That was a proper contest and if we wanted to assess where we are at and how far we’ve come, there you go. Tonight provided us with plenty of answers, as well as a number of questions,’ said Powell.
‘I thought we started brightly and positively and I feel you have to do that against teams who want to be on the front foot. If we’d come here and been timid, they’d have walked all over us so the boys deserve a lot of credit.
‘Look, they were always going to have significant periods in the game where they were going to be on top and the question was could we deal with those moments. For the large part, yes, we did.
‘If you look at the goals we’ve conceded, they are disappointing, though. There are two, three moments in the build up to both where we’ve been slow in closing the space, or coming out to make contact with an opponent.
‘Three Bridges like to move the ball quickly – the surface certainly helps them – and we’ve not quite reacted sharply enough in those moments.
‘But it’s so important to remember we are still learning, and acclimatising, to this level and to come away with a point is excellent. We’ll take it.’
Bulls next three engagements come against sides all sitting in the current top five in Whyteleafe, Faversham and, oddly, Three Bridges again at the end of the month.
Set this point gained against that context, and it could be a very valuable one indeed.
Three Bridges squad: Sam Roberts, Dan Ferreira, Josh Hallard, Ade Adeyinka, Sam Bull, Hayden Neathey, Charlie Bennett, Bryan Villavicencio (off 52′), Noel Leighton (c), Hayden Velvick (off 65′), Reece Hallard
Subs: Harvey Woollard, Nabeel Ghannam (on 65′), Kevin Rivera (on 52′), Ben Holden, Billy Irving
Jersey Bulls squad: Euan Van Der Vliet, Jamie Watling, James Sunley (off 66′), James Querée (c), Luke Campbell, Toby Ritzema, Fraser Barlow, Joe Kilshaw, Lorne Bickley, Rai Dos Santos, Miguel Carvalho
Subs: Jonny Le Quesne (on 66′), Luke Watson, Evan Brodie
To see the full league table, fixtures and results, click the link below.
https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/jersey-bulls/league-table
