Bexhill climb off foot of table

The victory meant Bexhill not only ended a run of five successive defeats but also saw them leapfrog their opponents.

"I think relief is probably the right word," said manager Bill Trivett, who had offered to resign the previous week following a 9-0 drubbing at the hands of Selsey. "It was getting a bit tense at the end, but we're definitely delighted to have got the three points."

They got those three points courtesy of a gutsy performance that was embellished by a close range finish from Adam Quinn at the second attempt after he outjumped away goalkeeper Rob McLelland to Richard Anderson's free kick in the 37th minute and Darren Witham's composed strike after 83 minutes.

Whilst they got the three points and battled commendably hard to achieve them, they were rather fortunate because goalkeeper Adam Taylor came to their rescue on numerous occasions and, on another day, they may well have been soundly beaten even by a team that replaced them at the bottom of the league.

"Sidlesham certainly had their chances to score goals," Trivett continued, "but we've been in the same position a few times where we've been guilty of not finishing chances and been punished. It was our best goalkeeping performance of the season and you couldn't fault their effort."

The effort was definitely there, but they will still need to improve markedly if they're to retain their senior status.

Besides giving away all the aforementioned opportunities, they lacked an attacking threat for most of the contest as well. They played, perhaps understandably in view of their wretched form, with Aaron Cochrane as a lone forward but the lack of fitness among several players meant that he was often isolated and the ball just kept coming back at the defence during a first half dictated by Sidlesham.

Quinn's opener seemed to lift Bexhill, though, and they committed more men forward during the second period.

But they also left more gaps at the back and Sidlesham carved out a succession of chances without managing to break through until Simon Hounsome headed home an 88th minute corner.

The game ended on an unsavoury note when Bexhill's Danny Collins and Sidlesham's Joe Leggatt were sent-off following a flare-up that prompted a 22-man confrontation, but United clung on for a sorely-needed success.