Bexhill United fell Forest to make it three straight wins

It was back to league action for Bexhill on Saturday after a welcome breather the previous weekend which gave the players a chance to recover and work on some of the injuries that have hit the Pirates in the busy opening couple of months of the season.

Boss Jay Skinner-Swain opted for an attacking formation, which saw the return of Ryan Moir to the starting line-up.

Forest Row had a difficult start to the season which saw them flirting with the basement places early doors but just one defeat in the past five is decent form and has lifted them to relative safety. They would be another tough test for the Bexhill lads.

The Pirates started brightly on a sunny but chilly autumn afternoon which had drawn a healthy crowd of 218 to the Polegrove. It wasn’t long before they had something to cheer about.

After some early probing, on 11 minutes Ant Thomas pinged a throw up the line to Jack Shonk who played in Theo Coombs and the Bexhill man shrugged off a challenge and squared the ball to in-form Luke Donaldson who gratefully accepted the opportunity to put the home side one up.

Minutes later it was two, and the first bit of controversy, when the ref adjudged that a Row challenge in the box justified the award of a penalty. The visitors might not have been impressed but Shonk grabbed hold of the ball and stepped up to add yet another Pirates goal to his mammoth haul.

Bexhill scented blood, and an opportunity to bury the match by half-time, but on 23 minutes another injury blow disrupted the flow of their game. This time it was Theo Coombs stretchered off after copping a nasty one on the top of the foot. He was replaced by Jack Mison.

The rest of the first half saw Forest Row fighting to get back into the game but finding it difficult to carve out any real opportunities against a solid Bexhill unit who were working hard for each other across the park.

With Bexhill attacking their favoured Brockley Road End, the Pirates fans had high hopes of more goals in the second period. Moir came closest, seeing his effort hit the post after being set up by Shonk.

On 70 minutes it took a miracle save by Forest Row keeper Ethan McGrath to tip over a bullet diving header from point blank range from Charlie Playford.

At the Bowls Club End, Finn Holter in the Bexhill goal was also called upon to make a fine save, getting down sharply to turn an effort round the post on 75 minutes.

A goal for Row at that point may have made for a tricky final period for Bexhill but they saw out the rest of the game to make it three wins on the bounce which has shunted them up to sixth place in the league, handily placed to push on with a bunch of home games to come, including a league match at home to Lancing on Saturday.