Lydd Town 2-0 Bridon Ropes
On a very windy afternoon the ‘Lydders’ welcomed Bridon Ropes, the south London team brimming with confidence following a recent 7-0 thrashing of a rival play-off team.
With the wind behind them, the visitors pressed forward but Lydd’s back five of keeper Collins, Hastings, Sedenu, Pogue, and Alexander held together and proved strong enough to frustrate the Bridon attacks.
Lydd created a few chances, Babington shooting just wide, a Tyler Sterling free kick just skimming the bar, and a flurry of corners in the last few minutes of the half, causing Bridon a rash of defensive problems.
Lydd came flying out of the traps in the second half and within a minute Luke Burdon broke through and scored from 25 yards. Piling on the pressure, Lydd went two up in the 52nd minute when Babington laid the ball off to Sterling who, with a touch of class, released the flying left-back Harry Alexander whose pin-point cross was headed home from six yards by Troy Howard.
Despite a late flourish from the visitors, Lydd held on for a convincing 2-0 victory which keeps them firmly in contention for the play-offs.
In his post-match statement to Rye News, manager Mickey Doyle said: “Bridon are a good side, so we knew we had to be on top of our game. We planned to play against the wind in the first half and get to the interval on level terms. We were pleased when that happened, and we just had to step on the gas in the second half to make things count. With our forward options, we knew we had a great chance of scoring a couple. The whole squad played a part and Troy was excellent throughout, thoroughly deserving his goal.
“There’s plenty of twists and turns to come in the remaining matches before the play-offs. We have hard places to go like Larkfield next week, but we hold a good position, and the team is in good heart. We have our fate in our own hands now. With just four matches to go, we need to keep focussed and tick them off one at a time with hard work, effort, and keeping smart.”
Image Credits: John Botten .