Broadbridge Heath were hoping to maintain their excellent run of form which has seen them win 8 of their last 10 matches when they played host to Erith Town on a cold, wet Saturday afternoon at The BodyMould Community Stadium but the visitor’s made life difficult for The Bears right up until the 94th minute when Heath finally secured the win.

In an evenly balanced first half it was Erith’s Olly Milton who had the first attempt on target on 15 minutes when he tried his luck with a right foot shot from 25 yards that was gathered comfortably by Heath goalkeeper Alfie Hadfield. 5 minutes later Erith’s Destiny Oladipo powered his way through the Heath defence and hit a left foot shot from the edge of the penalty area that was blocked by Hadfield, the ball rebounded into the path of Oladopi who was just about to tap it into an empty net but was denied by a brave Lewis Hyde diving header to clear the danger.

At the other end on 28 minutes Zac Young played the ball out wide to Luke Bejashvili who cut-inside the penalty area and fired a right foot shot narrowly over the crossbar and minutes later the same combination saw Bejashvili burst into the penalty area but his right foot shot went straight into the arms of Town’s goalkeeper Harrison Firth.

Heath continued on the ascendency but the Erith defence stood firm until the 2nd minute of time added on when a Charlie Gibson corner from the right was headed back to the Heath defender and reworked inside to Emmanuel Abudiore who hammered a left foot shot from just outside the “D” through a crowded penalty area into the bottom right corner of the net to give “The Bears” the narrowest of halftime leads.

As the heavens opened and the rain came down the game continued to flow from end to end with Heath creating more chances; Abudiore firing one effort into the side netting, Young hitting a powerful left foot shot straight at Firth and Louis Evans doing the same with a right foot shot from distance but the visitors always looked dangerous on the counter attack with long balls forward to their attacking players but the Heath defence marshalled by Brad Peters and the “Man of the Match” Lewis Hyde dealt with everything the opposition threw at them.

On 75 minutes “The Bears” best chance of the half came when a free kick was awarded some 20 yards from goal, Young fired in a left foot shot through the defensive wall and saved at full length by Firth with the ball coming out to Evans who struck it first time over the crossbar; minutes later another Evans right foot screamer from 25 yards dipped over Firth and crashed against the underside of the crossbar and out to safety.

Deep into time added on The Bears finally sealed the game when Mason Doughty received the ball wide on the right of the penalty area and played it into the path of Young who netted his 17th goal of the season to win Heaths 9th game from the last 11 played.

Team: Hadfield, Staight, Gibson, Marino (Connell 60), Hyde, Peters, Bejashvili (Dowdell 60), Evans, Lawrence (Romain 75), Young, Abudiore (Doughty 80).