Hythe Town 1-1 Three Bridges - The pressure is not on us, the pressure is on everyone around us, to get in the play-offs, says Hythe Town boss Steven Watt

Hythe Town 1 – 1 Three Bridges
Location	Reachfields Stadium, off Fort Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 6JS
Kickoff	25/02/2023 15:00

HYTHE TOWN  1-1  THREE BRIDGES
Isthmian League South East Division
Saturday 25 February 2023
Stephen McCartney reports from Reachfields Stadium

HYTHE TOWN manager Steven Watt insists there is no pressure on his side as they moved to within two points of grabbing a place in the Isthmian League South East Division play-off lottery.

The Cannons have beaten Corinthian (2-1), Chatham Town (1-0), Sittingbourne (1-0), Littlehampton Town (4-1) and Burgess Hill Town (1-0) to climb up to seventh-place in the table with 44 points on the board from their 27 games.

Jamie Crellien’s side arrived at a windy Reachfields Stadium in fifteenth-place in the pecking order with 30 points from their 26 games.

Three Bridges were held to draws by Chatham Town (2-2), VCD Athletic (0-0), Cray Valley (2-2), East Grinstead Town (1-1) and Chichester City (2-2) before their drawing streak was ended by a 3-1 home defeat to Sevenoaks Town in midweek.

The West Sussex side are one point clear of the relegation play-off zone, which is occupied by Sittingbourne (30 points from 28 games) and Haywards Heath Town (29 points from 28 games), while Corinthian (19 points from 28) and Faversham Town (18 points from 29) still cannot escape from the relegation zone going into the final eight weeks of the season.

Hythe Town dominated the first half and were thwarted by a string of fine saves from the recalled Three Bridges goalkeeper Leo Anderson, before centre-half Liam Smith headed in his fourth goal of the season to give the Cannons the lead they deserved.

However, Three Bridges stole a point inside the final couple of minutes when goalkeeper Steven Phillips got the last touch to the ball after Three Bridges’ substitute Camron Lawson recycled the ball back into a crowded goal-mouth following a set-piece.

“Unlucky, I thought we were unlucky.  I think their goalkeeper was man-of-the-match today with the saves that he made in the first half,” said Watt.

“It was a difficult game, obviously the wind played a factor but I’ve just said to the boys in there, we were so, so comfortable throughout the whole game and unlucky at the end.

“The ball falls for them, they get a shot and we block it on the line and Jason Fregene heads it off the line and it comes off the keeper’s face and goes in, so it’s a Steve Phillips own goal.

“It’s a tad unlucky but we’ve been on a great run of form at the minute.  You can’t win every game but I certainly felt it was a game we fully deserved the three points.

“You get draws where you feel you gained a point and today’s a draw where we felt that we’ve dropped two because I thought the first half was total dominance from us.

“Second half, they didn’t do anything really, at all really.  I can’t remember Steve having a save to make. He had more to do in the first half than in the second half, against the wind.

“I said to the boys in there, if we still win our game in hand we’ll go in the play-offs.  We’re two points off now but we’re still in the hunt.  As I keep saying, there’s no pressure on our boys.  They’re playing freely, other teams, if you like, are under a lot more pressure than what we are to get into the play-offs, so we’ll just take each game as it comes, we’ll roll onto next week and try to get three points there.”

Three Bridges briefly came out with all guns blazing, until Hythe Town went close to scoring after only 80 seconds.

Marvin Hamilton played the ball into Shad Ngandu down the middle of the pitch and the left-winger swept his right-footed shot towards the bottom far corner from 22-yards, which was comfortably held by Anderson, making a low save to his left.

“I thought we were nice and bright, started the game really well. It’s something that we’ve done very well recently, started games very well and we did today,” said Watt, whose side capitalised on some poor kicking out from Anderson in the first half, with only one of his kicks crossing the halfway line in the windy conditions.

“I felt their keeper was their best player and he kept them in the game.”

Hythe Town won the corner-count by 7-4.  Midfielder Marvin Hamilton launched eight of his 13 long throws into the Three Bridges box during the first-half, while Three Bridges’ right-back Billy Irving launched all of his nine long throws into the Hythe Town box after the interval.

Hamilton’s first long throw was looping towards the near post and 14-goal striker Johan Caney-Bryan jumped up to flick his header towards goal only for Anderson to raise both of his hands to flick the ball around the post.

“Yohan should score! He’s done everything right. He’s flicked it and the keeper’s just stood there and it’s hit him,” said Watt.

“He’s pulled off a couple of good saves. It’s something that we’ve worked on and we’ve got better as the season has gone on. We were really unlucky not to get at least a couple of goals out of that first half.”

Frannie Collin, who took all of the home side’s corners, swung the ball in from the right and left-wing-back Marcus Goldsmith steered his diving header flashing past the near post in the tenth minute.

Goldsmith was withdrawn in the 70^th minute due to a little knock on his back that he picked up on Tuesday night and started to tighten up, while Fregene didn’t start the game due to a “little issue with his knee,” before coming on at left-back.

Three Bridges looked more like scoring from a set-piece.

Curtis Gayler’s left-wing corner was cleared back out to him and the left-sided midfielder recycled the ball back into the box for centre-half Joe Tennent to steer his header from inside the six-yard box straight into Steven Phillips gloves.

Hythe Town kept knocking on the door and Collin’s second corner came in from the right and was met by Lex Allen’s towering header at the far post, from a very tight angle, which was beaten away by Anderson at his near-post.

The busy Anderson was called into action when he smothered a shot low to his left after Ngandu had two bites of the cherry to find the bottom far corner, with a swept low shot through a crowd of players after the away side failed to deal with Hamilton’s sixth long throw.

However, Three Bridges went a bit more direct and almost grabbed the lead in the 29^th minute.

Left-back Giani Ashley played the ball down the left-channel for Brannon O’Neill, who got in behind Jack Steventon before drilling a left-footed drive crashing against the crossbar from 15-yards.

“It was a mistake from us. We missed two tackles. We should be doing better in those situations and they get an opportunity from that. It shows you can’t make mistakes at any point of the game, no matter how dominant you are because teams in this league can punish you,” said Watt.

Hythe Town then regained control of the game and were to be denied by the outstanding Anderson once more.

Liam Smith played the ball into his younger brother Ethan, who laid the ball off for Ngandu, who unleashed a first time right-footed rasping drive from 35-yards, which forced the visiting goalkeeper to use both of his hands to beat the fierce drive towards safety in the 34^th minute.

“It was a great save. I thought it was a goal. It was a good height for the keeper, another save from the keeper, who seemed to be at the right place at the right time with everything in the first half,” added Watt.

Liam Smith, who played in the heart of a three-man defence alongside Allan and Steventon, found himself in space down the left wing before floating a cross towards the edge of the box where Caney-Bryan’s flicked header was tipped around the post by the diving Anderson.

Three Bridges produced a well-worked three-man move and missed a glorious chance to grab the lead in the 39^th minute.

Nine-goal striker Noel Leighton swept the ball out to 13-goal Pamment on the right wing and he played in a low cross towards the unmarked Gayler, who flicked his first time shot towards the bottom far corner from 12-yards, only for Steven Phillips to get down low to his right to make a comfortable save.

“Again, mistakes from us not dealing with the ball, not clearing our lines properly and Noel latches onto it and puts it wide and it’s a great ball and a good cross and luckily enough Steve was equal to it,” said Watt.

The Cannons immediately went up the other end and just 26 seconds later, Ngandu cut in from the left and his right-footed shot was tipped around the post by Anderson, diving to his left to ensure the ball looped over the upright.

“We spoke (at half-time) a lot about how we are going to have to defend set-pieces and things in our box,” revealed Watt.

“As long as we did that well, I just felt there were goals in the game for us.  I never felt that there were not going to be opportunities for us to score, so it was more a case of switching on defensively, particularly to long throws and set-pieces in our box because they are a good side and they are dangerous from those.  I must say I thought we defended superbly throughout the whole game. I can’t remember Steve having a save to make in the second half.”

Hythe Town finally made the breakthrough, taking a deserved lead with five minutes and 9 seconds into the second half, following their seventh corner.

Collin floated the ball in from the left, Liam Smith found a pocket of space on the six-yard line and steered his free header across the keeper into the bottom far corner from a tight angle.

“A great header, a great delivery from Fran and a fantastic header from Liam,” said Watt.

“I’ve asked more from the boys, particularly earlier in the season, we need to score more from set-pieces because we’ve got fantastic deliveries, long-throws, or free-kicks or corners and earlier on in the season we weren’t more of a threat.  We didn’t score enough from set-pieces but certainly in recent months we have been.  It was a fantastic header from Liam.  I thought he was excellent today and another fantastic set-piece from Frannie Collin.”

Both sides were predictable in their tactics, as it was Irving’s turn to launch long throw after long throw into the Hythe Town penalty area, while Hamilton’s five second half long throws were no more of a threat after the interval.

Watt said: “We defended it with ease.  I thought everything in our box we just eat up.  It wasn’t a problem.  We knew about the long-throws.  We’re a team comfortable in those situations.  I’ve never been so comfortable in a game this season than I felt during the game today.  I just didn’t see them creating anything, baring a bit of luck, which they got in the end.”

Both sides turned the second half into a cagey affair and Three Bridges didn’t look like they were going to score in open play.

The stalemate sprung into life inside the final 10 minutes through.  Three Bridges wasted a glorious chance to equalise with Gayler’s drilled right-footed free-kick from 25-yards, which was more of a concern for the trees behind the goal than to Steven Phillips’ goal.

Watt said: “I wouldn’t say it was cagey because I felt we just defended.  You were going to be with this wind.  You were going to be asked questions.  I can’t remember Steve having a save to make.  They were lumping things in our box and we were heading straight out.  I never felt any danger whatsoever in the game. I always felt if they were going to score, it was going to be the way it happened.”

Hythe Town needed a second goal to kill the game off and Hamilton’s last throw was laid off by Steventon for Ngandu to hit a first time right-footed curler around the far post from 25-yards.

“We work a lot on those second phases of set-pieces and it dropped nicely for Shad and he was unlucky with the effort but it’s something that we work on and get people in the right areas and it’s not always necessarily the first contact that gets you the goal, it’s normally second or third,” added Watt.

However, Three Bridges grabbed the equaliser with 42:41 on the clock, one of the ugliest goals scored this season.

O’Neill launched a free-kick forward from outside his own D, the ball was worked over to Lawson, who swept the ball back into a crowded penalty area.  The ball was blocked in the melee of players, Jason Fregene tried to head the ball off the line and in doing so the ball smacked Steven Phillips in the face and the ball apologetically crossed the line to leave Watt frustrated.

“Firstly, I think it’s a foul on Lex Allan.  I think Lex goes up and the player runs into him.  He hasn’t got to the ball, so I think it’s a foul first and foremost but Lex has to do better.  He heads it down into a good area for them and he gets a shot off and we defend it.  Jason heads it off the line but it hits our keeper’s face and goes in so really unlucky for our perspective. I don’t think the boys deserved that at all,” admitted Watt.

Three Bridges almost snatched an unlikely victory at the death when Irving’s long throw from the half-way line was cleared back out to him and he drilled a first time shot screaming past the foot of the near post from 40-yards out.

Hythe Town have maintained 12 clean sheets in 35 games and have celebrated a 1-0 victory on seven occasions so Watt revealed disappointment within the home dressing room post-match, having leaked a sloppy goal at the end of a game that was snatched away from the jaws of victory, a deserved victory.

“Disappointment because we feel it’s two points dropped. It’s probably the most comfortable I felt all season so it’s definitely two points dropped but as I said to the boys, we’ll just move on to the next game, that’s all we can do.  You can’t win every game.  You need that luck. We have had luck in recent weeks go our way, today, I think went against us.

“Nine times out of 10 Jason heads that and it goes 30-40 yards out for a throw in but it’s hit Steve in the face and gone in so it’s unlucky. You can’t get all of the rub of the green all the time.”

Hythe Town, meanwhile, have only tasted one home defeat in the league and Watt is delighted to have made Reachfields Stadium a fortress for visiting sides.

“It’s something I always wanted it to be and it should be.  You want club’s to come down here and enjoy their time.  You want them to hate coming here if that makes sense,” said Watt.

“It’s a tough place to come. We ask a lot of questions of teams that come here. It's well known around the league now if you’re coming here and you’re going to come away with anything, you either get a little bit of luck like they’ve got today, or you’ve earned it.

“It’s one thing we spoke about earlier on in the season playing at home and away games but mainly at home, to make teams earn whatever they get here and it’s disappointing today.  I don’t think they’ve earned it today. I think they’ve got a slice of luck, which is hard to swallow but look, we can’t complain, we’ve had a slice of that in recent weeks.”

Ramsgate remain at the summit with 58 points from 29 (of 38) games, while the play-off places are currently occupied by Chatham Town (54 points from 28), Beckenham Town (52 points from 29), Whitehawk (49 points from 27) and Ashford United (47 points from 29).

Sevenoaks Town (47 points from 28), Hythe Town (45 points from 28) and Cray Valley (43 points from 27), Chichester City (43 points from 27) and Sheppey United (43 points from 28) are all waiting to pounce within the business end of the season.

Watt takes his side to Beckenham Town next Saturday, a side that have suffered back-to-back 2-1 defeats to Ashford United and Chichester City.

“The pressure is not on us, the pressure is on everyone around us, to get in the play-offs,” insisted Watt.

“Another tough game, a tough place to go.  We’ve got nothing to lose.  They’ve got everything to lose. There’s no pressure on us.  We win, we drag them right back into it with everyone else. 

“If we beat them next week, it’s not just us chasing them but other teams are chasing them, they get dragged back into it. 

“A lot of pressure will be on them.  They lost at home to Ashford so we’ve got to go there and believe we can make an upset.  We’re going there as massive underdogs.  Yes, we beat them 3-0 at home, we were quite comfortable but know they’re going to be a different animal at their place.

“Beckenham are just not trying to get in the play-offs, they want to win the league so you’re going up against a team that’s trying to challenge to win.

“They know what they’re in for. They came down here on a Tuesday night (18 October) and we beat them 3-0.  They knew what they were up against then so as much as I’m expecting a tough game, they know we’re going there and they’ll be expecting a very tough game.

“It will be a good game. It will be tough but we’ll go and give our all like we always do and try to win and see if we can.”

Watt has worked miracles to get a club with a modest playing budget in with a shout of promotion.

“It will be fantastic for the boys first and foremost. They’ve done so well this season and the way they’ve attacked the season and played to even be in this position,” said Watt.

“Considering what’s been doing at other clubs around us, for us to be in the hunt is fantastic and the way the season ended last year, it’s fantastic for the fans, for the board, for the club to be up and around it where this club should be, I think.

“It’s great to be in and around it, great to be in March having purpose not to stay up but purpose to achieve something. It will be fantastic for the football club, the fans and the players.”

Hythe Town: Steven Phillips, Sam Itauma, Marcus Goldsmith (Jason Fregene 70), Liam Smith, Jack Steventon, Lex Allan, Shad Ngandu, Marvin Hamilton, Johan Caney-Bryan, Frannie Collin, Ethan Smith (Toby Bancroft 79).
Subs: Josh Stirman, Morgan Williamson, Michael Phillips

Goal: Liam Smith 51

Booked: Darren Blackburn 81 (coach), Toby Bancroft 87

Three Bridges: Leo Anderson, Billy Irving, Giani Ashley (Camron Lawson 79), Brannon O’Neill, Tad Bromage, Joe Tennent, Curtis Gayler, Bryan Villavicencio, Kieron Pamment, Noel Leighton, Michael Wilson.
Subs: Mitch Bromage, Reegan Jeffrey, Joe Stone, Harvey Wollard

Goals: Steven Phillips 88 (own goal)

Booked: Kieron Pamment 74, Bryan Villavicencio 90

Attendance: 247
Referee: Mr Joseph Dann-Pye
Assistants: Mr Ben Marshall & Mr Jacob Miller