Bearsted (0) 0
Cray Valley PM (3) 4 Youngs 33, Smith 35, McDonagh 45, Thompson 56
Attendance: 46
Entrance: £3.50 Senior
Programme: Free with entry
Mileage: 15/5,445
New Ground: 301
Once you have ignored the satnav's assertion that you have reached your destination and negotiated the pot-hole strewn lane to the ground there is a decent sized car park. My concession priced entrance fee of £3.50 included the programme and, evidently, the parking spot, so it was indeed a bargain.
Inside there is the almost obligatory 125-seater Atcost stand that some seasoned hoppers can get quite sniffy about. Personally, for a club of Bearsted's size that mostly struggle to attract a hundred people they are perfectly adequate. The side from where you enter the ground is the only side populated with any facilities and I didn't walk around to observe whether the hardstanding featured on the other side. Although I didn't partake, I'm reliably informed that the refreshments on offer were good.
The match was a curious one in which the visitors, Cray Valley, failed to register a shot in anger for the first half-hour but managed to go into the break with a 3-0 advantage. Bearsted stretched the Cray keeper, Jordan Carey, on four occasions before, after 32 minutes, in only their second attack, Tom Youngs was allowed to run across the face of goal and strike from 15 yards into the roof of the net.
Two minutes later, a heavy deflection left the Bears' keeper, Greg Owen, flat-footed, leaving Peter Smith to argue with his team-mates later as to whether he can claim the goal.
Bearsted's heads quickly dropped and by now their visitors were creating chances almost at will. The third goal came in highly controversial circumstances when the evergreen Leigh Bremner ran clear with the home side appealing for offside, which certainly appeared to be the case. Bremner's shot sailed over the bar, but much to the Bearsted's disgust, the referee doubled his error by awarding a corner, from which Taylor McDonagh rose, unchallenged to head home.
Whilst the Bearsted support harangued the officials leaving the pitch for the break, one wise man offered the comment that no matter how many bad decisions go against you, the ball is still there to be defended. So true.
After 10 minutes of the second period, another poor decision went against the hosts, with Cray substitute Tom Fitzgerald racing clear before crossing for Youngs to bring a save from Owen only for Jason Thompson to score from the rebound.
The arguments went on for a long period without the referee brandishing a card, but after 71 minutes he showed a red to Bearsted's Rob Lyall for a professional foul.
The game was becoming farcical as minute by minute the hosts were more aggrieved by the hapless official who proceeded to book two players for sarcastically clapping the linesman when he raised a flag in their favour.
My evening was a groundhopper's tick, along the line was a referee's assessor. His notes would make far more interesting reading.
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