152 attended the Kingsmere Group Stadium for the six-pointer clash between Horndean FC and Bedfont Sports. At the start of the day, Horndean sat in 21st place, with Bedfont just two places ahead in 19th.

Ryan Carroll had the first shot on target for The Deans. In the 10th minute he attempted his trademark shot from the halfway line, which had Tyler Tobin back-pedalling and forced him to make a save.

Bedfont managed to get the ball in the back of the net in the 19th minute, but it was called offside. Jamie Fuller had a headed shot on target that was spilled by Myles Bowman. Oliver Davidson followed it in, but the linesman raised his flag.

Just a minute later, Horndean went down to 10 men. The skipper, Jake Flannigan, challenged for the ball in the air and the Bedfont player went down to the ground. The referee deemed Flannigan’s aerial challenge too robust, ruling that he had led with his elbow.

22 minutes in and it looked like Bedfont were going down to 10. Trisdon Andrews made a last-man challenge and tripped up Sam Godfroy. But the referee thought a yellow card was sufficient.

The first substitution for Horndean came in the 32nd minute as Zach Cahusac made way for Joe Goddard. The tactics were changed at this point, Carroll deputised in the right wing-back position.

Breakthrough for Horndean! 35 minutes in, Carroll made a great run down the right, put a low cross into the near post and Ewan Lynch was there to see it home. 1-0 Horndean.

Lynch nearly doubled his tally in the 43rd, a great shot from a tight angle on the right brought another save from Tobin.

Just before the interval, Godfroy had a free-kick from 25 yards out that was tipped over the crossbar by Tobin.

A truly dominant first half performance from 10-man Horndean.

Before play resumed, Ollie Godziemski came on for Brett Williams.

Bedfont came out in the second half applying pressure right from the off. Horndean were defending very well. Some great clearances from Harry Medway and challenges from Carroll in his new role helped nullify Bedfont’s attacks.

Another red card for Horndean. 61 minutes in, Medway made a crunching challenge near the corner flag, this started a melee between the players. In the end, the challenge was judged to be too reckless by Billy Wootten. Horndean were down to nine.

The Deans looked to the bench two minutes later, the goalscorer Lynch made way for Mikey O’Connell.

The referee reached for his back pocket for the third time, sending off Horndean manager Shaun Hale in the 64th minute for arguing with the officials.

Horndean’s resilience was finally breached in the 76th minute. Bedfont’s number 9, James Burnett had a tap-in after an initial great save from Bowman was parried into Burnett’s path. 1-1.

The Deans managed to hold on for a point. A great team effort, everyone contributed defensively to make sure they didn’t end up losing the game undeservedly. Bowman made a couple of outstanding saves in the dying embers of the match.

Leon Baker-Neto won the Man of the Match award. He ran his socks off for the entire clash.

It was a point to be proud of for Horndean, and a sense that with 11 men they may well have taken all three. But not letting it slip and securing a point showed true strength and determination.