Three Bridges stun Chatham Town after brilliant brace from Gayler

Chatham had won every one of their 12 League games at home this season whilst Bridges had lost each of their eight away fixtures. Chatham deservedly led 2-0 at half time to maintain most of the 708 crowd’s expectations, but two stunning second half strikes by Curtis Gayler earned Bridges a point that few saw coming.

It was the second week running that Bridges had shocked the team at the top of the table, following on from the home win against Ramsgate, and the midweek loss at home to middle of the table Hythe Town - only Bridges’ second home reverse - makes the whole thing so bizarre!

Chatham attacked in numbers in the early stages with Jack Evans coming close with a header and Daniel Thompson incredibly firing over following an excellent inviting cross by Andy Drury.

The inevitable opener took half an hour to materialise however, a cross from the left leading to a half cleared header before THOMPSON stabbed the loose ball past Mitch Bromage.

And with a minute to go in the first half, everyone seemed to back off as the veteran MATT BODKIN, a 39 year old who delivered a number of inviting crosses, strode through and hit what was a rare goal for such a talented player.

Bridges had hardly troubled Chatham at this point and were fortunate that Joe Tennant and Billy Irving were looking supreme in the heart of the defence. Only Kieron Pamment had looked likely to score for Bridges at that stage, but three minutes into the second half Curtis Gayler hit a long range shot that swerved and then nestled into Ben Bridle Card’s net.

And after 63 minutes Gayler delivered an even better fierce free kick to level the scores. By now, belief was running through the visiting side, whilst Chatham’s frustrations began to boil over. Simon Cooper, who had conceded the free kick that led to the equaliser, received a second yellow card, whilst Manager Kevin Hake was shown a straight red card for an altercation on the touchline.

An injury to Gayler late in the game led to a good cameo performance by Camron Lawson, whose cross to Kevin Rivera only led to the latter driving wide, whilst virtually the last action of the game saw a last gasp block on Lawson’s shot.

Bridges Man of the Match - Billy Irving.

This Saturday Bridges are at home to Cray Valley PM and next Tuesday night (14th) they make the short trip to face local rivals East Grinstead Town.

Chatham: B.Bridle Card, S.Cooper, J.Robins, D.Beckwith, J.Evans, E.Oloyede (C.Peck, 62), J.Taylor, A.Drury (R.Sitole, 73), S.Sanogo, M.Bodkin, D.Thompson (D.Bradshaw, 73).Unused Subs. - P.Domafriyie, B.Bennett.Booked - Cooper (62),Thompson (72), Evans (81).Sent Off - Cooper - 2nd yellow (72), manager Kevin Hake (86).

Bridges: M.Bromage, G.Ashley, J.Tennant, B.Irving, J.Stone, B.Villavicencio, C.Gayler (C.Lawson, 88), B.O’Neill, K.Pamment, M.Wilson, K.Rivera.Unused Subs. - L.Anderson, E.Cowdrey, T.Difika, H.Woollard.Booked - Wilson (36), Villavicencio (72), Rivera (73).