Isthmian League South East Division
Three Bridges- Noel Leighton 56'
- Reece Hallard 90'
- James Queree 15' (pen)
- Lorne Bickley 68'
Jersey did not have James Carr and Adam Trotter from their starting team at Sheppey, nor Daniel Jinadu and Harry Mackenzie who had been on the bench. Fraser Barlow and James Sunley were elevated to the starters with Luke Watson becoming a substitute where he was joined by Jonny Le Quesne, returning from injury, and teenager Ewan Brodie. Jersey had played at Three Bridges before when they hosted Colliers Wood United there in a 1-1 draw when Springfield was being upgraded in March 2022.
Three Bridges in 2nd (7-1-1 30-11) had a perfect home record from five league matches, the fifth on Saturday when they defeated Deal Town 3-1. They made one change, bringing back captain Noel Leighton who had been suspended after being dismissed against Merstham. That pushed Kevin Rivera to the bench where Nabel Ghannam was also added with Tresor Munca-Difika and Destiny Ojo ousted.
Early on Three Bridges gave ample demonstration of why they are title contenders as they were very quick going forward with Hayden Velvick particularly threatening. Several balls were lofted into the box which were attacked with gusto by his team-mates. However, it was Jersey who took the lead. Fraser Barlow lofted a right channel free kick towards Lorne Bickley who went down under a challenge from Hayden Neathey. Three Bridges understandably protested but James Queree sent Sam Roberts the wrong way as he went bottom left.
Faversham responded midway through the half when Reece Hallard blasted over but Jersey might have had a second when Miguel Carvalho got on the end of a Rai Dos Santos cross from the left. He got direction but not much power and Roberts was able to stick out his right hand to affect the save. Dos Santos on the edge of the box swivelled on a cross just after the half hour but this time it was power but not direction and it whistled just wide of the right post. If Three Bridges felt hard done by with the penalty decision, they were fortunate that Leighton was only cautioned after being spoken to a third time before the interval for leaving his boot in.
Early in the second half Velvek found the side netting when an unmarked Leighton was screaming for the cross. Shortly afterwards Rivera was introduced, and he soon made a telling contribution. A dinked cross from the left edge of the box to the far post saw Leighton attack the ball ahead of Luke Campbell and Barlow to nod home the equaliser from close in.
Velvek provided another headed chance for Leighton but this time he glanced it wide of the left post. Jersey regained the lead with an excellent goal from Bickley. Dos Santos found him on the right side of the box but he ducked his left shoulder and beat Roberts with a powerful left footed shot that cleared the 'keeper but dipped under the bar. Five minutes later Bickley might have had another when a long clearance found him in space. He attempted to lob Roberts from distance but this time it cleared the bar.
Three Bridges poured forward, and Jersey racked up the cards as they desperately defended their slender lead. But, as at Sheppey, Jersey conceded a late goal. Ade Adeyinka found Reece Hallard in the left channel fifteen yards out and his well hit first time shot was good enough to beat Euan Van der Vliet even though he got both hands to the ball as he dived to his left. It brought an entertaining end to end match to a close as Jersey managed to put a dent in the hosts perfect home record.
Goals
- 15' ⚽ James Queree (pen)
- 56' ⚽ Noel Leighton
- 68' ⚽ Lorne Bickley
- 90' ⚽ Reece Hallard
Discipline
- Noel Leighton · 45+3'
- Luke Watson · 45+2'
- Toby Ritzema · 72'
- Jonny Le Quesne · 78'
- Joe Kilshaw · 85'
- Fraser Barlow · 89'
Three Bridges
- Sam Roberts
- Dan Ferreria
- Josh Hallard
- Sam Bull
- Hayden Neathey
- Bryan Villavicencio ↓51'
- Noel Leighton
- Reece Hallard
- Ade Adeyinka
- Hayden Velvick ↓67'
- Charlie Bennett
Subs
- Harvey Woollard
- Nabeel Ghannam ↑67'
- Kevin Rivera ↑51'
- Ben Holden
- Billy Irving
Jersey Bulls
- Euan Van der Vliet
- James Queree
- Luke Campbell
- Toby Ritzema
- Fraser Barlow
- Joe Kilshaw
- Miguel Carvalho
- Jamie Watling
- Rai Dos Santos
- Lorne Bickley
- James Sunley ↓66'
Subs
- Jonny Le Quesne ↑66'
- Luke Watson
- Ewan Brodie
| Three Bridges | Jersey Bulls | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Goals | 2 |
| 2 | Scorers | 2 |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 5 |
| 0 | Red cards | 0 |
Detailed match statistics will expand as the data feed grows.