Gate lose to Lethbridge brace at Bognor

By Tom Morris

The Gate travelled to Bognor on Saturday and were beaten by the Rocks as Bradley Lethbridge scored a brace in a 2-0 victory for the hosts.

In wet and windy conditions possession was shared in the opening exchanges, Mongoy let fly (5’) from 25 yards but his effort went wide while at the other end Prestedge set Bancroft (8’) through on goal but the young midfielder fired his effort straight at the keeper.

Our hosts took the lead in the 16th minute as Leigh ran down the left flank, crossed to Lethbridge in the box and the striker managed to turn and curl the ball into the far corner. 1-0 Bognor Regis. This early goal rocked the Gate and we struggled to get back into the game. A succession of corners (32’) were well cleared by Vose and his defenders as the hosts looked for a second before Lethbridge got the goal and his second in the 42nd minute, tucking the ball away after a good passing move. 2-0 Bognor Regis.

The half almost got worse at Lethbridge had a chance to score his hattrick (45’) but Vose scrambled across his goal and made a vital block to keep the score at 2-0. A minute of extra time came and went, and the teams went bag to the dugouts for the half time team talks.

Bognor started the second half brightly and Leigh will be wondering how he did not turn a Lethbridge cross home in the 51st minute, putting his effort over the bar! Moments later Moncur replaced Burnett (57’) and the Gate went closest to grabbing a goal back as Swift rose to head a Richards corner (60’) towards goal but was thwarted as Tangara made a great save.

Margate made another change in the 66th minute as Sessegnon replaced Richards who seemed to have picked up a slight injury. A Moncur free kick (77’) saw Friend head the ball to Bancroft but he fired his effort over the bar from a tight angle. We went into the last 15 minutes playing the better football: Leighton released Ufuah (79’) who ran through but an alert Tangara cleared the ball before the Gate winger could shoot. The chance looked like it would come but in fact the Rocks were handed a great chance as they won a penalty in the 86th minute. Leigh stepped up but Vose dived the correct way and made a great save!

There was just time for Afrane-Kesey to test the keeper with a good shot (91’) and for Friend to pick up a yellow card (93’) before the referee blew the whistled and ended the game Bognor Regis 2 Margate 0.

Margate: Vose, Richards, Porter, Prestedge, Friend, Swift ©, Afrane-Kesey, Burnett, Leighton, Ufuah, Bancroft

Subs: Kallmeier, Sessegnon (Richards 66’), Steele, Moncur (Burnett 57’), Hatton.

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