Ryman League Division One South
Three Bridges 2 Whyteleafe 2
WHYTELEAFE were left to rue what might have been after two goals in stoppage time earned Three Bridges a 2-2 draw on a dramatic evening in West Sussex.
Strikes by the home side's substitute Abu Touray on 91 minutes and Ben Godfrey in the fourth minute of added-on time cancelled out a lead that Leafe had established early in the second half and had never looked like relinquishing. In between, the visitors squandered a number of good chances to put the game beyond the Bridges' reach.
Leafe were missing a number of first-team regulars – central defender Louis Hollingsworth and striker Roscoe D'Sane were both unavailable, as were this season's burgeoning impact forwards Shawn Lyle and Tommy Harper, the latter with an injured thumb.
They were, however, able to give a debut to new signing Nathan Simpson, an experienced left back who has joined from Cray Wanderers.
There was little in a goalless first half to hint at the fireworks to follow. Leafe failed to execute their trademark fluid passing game in a difficult first 45 minutes against a physically imposing Bridges outfit, but could count themselves slightly unfortunate not to nick an interval lead. On 18 minutes, Sam Clayton cut outside his man in the box and prepared to bear down on goal, but appeared to be tripped. Despite strong claims for a penalty, the referee, perfectly placed to view the incident, waved play on.
Twice in the minutes that followed, Leafe's Greg Andrews went close to opening the scoring. On 23 minutes, Clayton's dink into the danger zone was half-cleared to Andrews on the edge of the box, but his first-time volley missed the keeper's right-hand post by inches. Then just three minutes later, Andrews received the ball near the centre circle and, spotting Kieron Thorp off his line, attempted an audacious shot from long range. Thorp briefly looked in trouble, but was relieved as the ball drifted off course and wide.
For their part, Three Bridges used both flanks to make threatening attacks, but found the Leafe back line holding the edge of the box stoutly. Dylan Merchant and Tommy Smith were reliable as always, while Alex Penfold filled in admirably at centre half.
Just before the break, Leafe captain Jason Thompson met an Andrews cross with a firm header from 12 yards, but the ball went straight into the hands of Thorp. The half ended goalless.
As is the pattern this season, Leafe upped their game considerably after the interval, and within seven minutes of the restart, they had opened up a two-goal lead.
On 49 minutes, Bentley Graham found himself on the left edge of the box, beat his defender with a stylish sidestep and drove a low left-footed shot through a crowded box and into the net off the keeper's left-hand upright. Then, just four minutes later, Andrews fed the ball to Clayton in a similar position, he set himself 20 yards out and curled a shot beyond the outstretched glove of Thorp into the near top corner.
Three Bridges were forced to press forward and play a higher defensive line, but with Leafe's rear guard in stubborn form, that created opportunities for the Leafe midfield to retrieve possession and quickly advance the ball behind enemy lines, for Clayton and Andrews to run on to. This led to the creation of several chances.
On 60 minutes, it should have been all over. Clayton sprang the offside trap on the right and delivered the ball perfectly across the six-yard box. Ryan Fowler was slightly on the stretch running on it at the far post, but nevertheless had the goal at his mercy, only to sky it over the bar. Within three minutes, two further chances fell to Andrews, but his attempted lob of the advancing keeper drifted wide, while another chance from closer range was parried to safety by Thorp. As well as the missed opportunities, Leafe were also frustrated by some dubious offside decisions and questionable awarding of fouls against them. As the game wore on, there were also two bookings for timewasting – Sheikh Ceesay and Simon Mensah – that seemed harsh.
Three Bridges had chances of their own, but always from longer range. One or two shots had the Leafe faithful holding their breaths as the ball whistled close to the post, but the net did not bulge and Leafe looked to be holding on comfortably. Indeed, another Andrews effort in the 86th minute sailed just inches wide of the angle of post and bar, and it looked as if Leafe were the likelier to add further to the scoresheet in the dying stages.
How wrong that would prove to be. With normal time up and the game going into stoppage time, the ball fell to Touray just inside the box, and his low shot beat Ceesay and nestled in the net. Inevitably the jitters got to Leafe both on and off the pitch, but with neither side's physio having entered the field of play for the duration of the match, it seemed unlikely there could be enough further added time to affect the result. How wrong that would prove to be as well.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Leafe only half-cleared a cross to Godfrey. He sent back a looping shot that had Ceesay leaping at full stretch to his left, but to no avail. The late, late strike prompted justifiably wild celebrations on the Bridges' bench at a point magicked out of nowhere.
Even after the equaliser, the referee still allowed enough time for Andrews to attempt another ambitious lob of the keeper from midfield, and he was not far wide of the mark. But it finished 2-2, and the point moved Whyteleafe up to fourth, while Three Bridges remain 11th.
Whyteleafe: Ceesay, Smith, Penfold, Simpson, Merchant, Thompson, Fowler (Pratt), Grant (Mensah), Andrews, Clayton, Graham.
Next matches:
Whyteleafe v Faversham Town | Ryman League South Division | Saturday 20 September – 3pm
Whyteleafe v Horsham | Ryman League South Division | Tuesday 23 September – 7.45pm
