Arundel FC

The Mullets extended the unbeaten league run to 6 matches with a hard fought 3-2 win over an in-form Three Bridges side.

A good first half display laid the foundations for the win which saw the home side go into the break leading 3-1 thanks to goals from Josh Biggs, Russ Hardwell and Howard Neighbour.

It was an eventful start to the match which saw 3 goals in the opening 11 minutes.  It was the Mullets who opened the scoring with just 4 minutes on the clock.  Howard Neighbour found Biggs in the box with a neat through ball and the returning skipper adjusted well to slot it past the onrushing keeper to net his first goal since late August.

The lead didn’t last long though with the visitors replying just 3 minutes later.  The Mullets offside trap failed on the half way line allowing Dean Wright to run clear down the right hand side and although Steve Sneller did well to block his initial cross the ball fell invitingly for Wright to turn home from close range.

The scores weren’t level for long though as the hosts re-took the lead with 11 minutes on the clock.  This time Biggs was the supplier when his low, left footed cross was swept past the Bridges keeper at the near post by Russ Hardwell.

The goalmouth action died down somewhat after that and it wasn’t until 8 minutes before the break that the scoreline changed again and it was the home side that extended their lead.  This time it was courtesy of an inspired solo goal from Howard Neighbour who twisted and turned on his way to sliding the ball left footed into the corner from 10 yards out.

Bridges missed a golden opportunity to pull a goal back minutes before half time when Ben O’Connor pulled off an amazing save to deny Wright getting his second from a point plank header.

The second half proved largely uneventful in comparison, although despite going down to 10 men when captain Dean Carden was sent off for dissent, the visitors pulled a goal back through Lee Carney’s penalty.

The incident leading up to the penalty saw Tom Pickford pick up an injury to his foot and having used the two outfield replacements available to him on the day, Richard Towers was forced to through young reserve goalkeeper Rhys Griffiths out on pitch, who played his part in defending the slender lead for the remaining minutes and secure a much needed 3 points for the Mullets.

Team: O’Connor; Sneller, Hall, Pickford, Walker(D); Hardwell, Biggs(J) (capt), Biggs(R), Grove; Neighbour, Tipper. Subs: Bassil (Biggs(J)), Tewsley (Neighbour), Griffiths (Pickford).