Casuals comeback leaves Bridges in trouble

Casuals, who were bottom themselves on Wednesday morning, made it two away wins in four days, but not before Bridges had seemingly taken command with goals by Tim Rivers in the sixth minute and Hassan Nyang, against his previous club, in the 40th. James MacShane and Dylan Cascoe squared it with two goals in four minutes midway through the second half, and Matt York completed the comeback with a last-gasp volley.

At the other end of the table, Dulwich found a Friend in need as they extended their lead over Maidstone to three points with a 2-0 victory at Folkestone.

Danny Carr hit a Folkestone post during the first half but Dulwich had to wait until an hour had gone for their opener, an own goal by Liam Friend. Erhun Oztumer made it 2-0 ten minutes later.

Maidstone had to come from two down to earn a 2-2 home draw against Crawley Down in front of 1,733 spectators. The Anvils took a 19th-minute lead through Jamie Cade and struck again two minutes later when Fraser Logan’s free-kick eluded the grasp of keeper Deren Ibrahim.

Stones were rescued by substitute Ade Olorunda, who scored his first league goal of the season in the 67th minute and nabbed another one five minutes later.

Many people thought that Maidstone’s artificial pitch would give them an unfair advantage might but they have won only six of their 11 home matches. Their away record is much better, though that is no surprise in this division which yielded six away wins and only two home victories (in both of which the away team scored first), taking the season’s tally to 109-88 in favour of visiting clubs.

Third-placed Leatherhead were one of the sides who managed to win on home soil, beating Merstham 3-1. Former Tanner Jack Macleod put the visitors ahead after 26 minutes but Jamie Coyle quickly replied and Tommy Hutchings put the hosts ahead with a 25-yarder soon after the interval. Liam Wright added the third in the 56th minute, his first goal since joining Tanners from Merstham.

Sittingbourne moved above Crawley Down into fourth place with a 5-0 romp at Walton & Hersham, who had a day to forget. They missed a penalty, conceded three, had two men sent off and rounded it off with an own goal.

Ryan Golding gave the Brickies a fourth-minute lead with the day’s only ‘normal’ goal. Graeme Purdy missed a chance to equalise from the spot but Golding made no such mistake, completing his hat-trick with penalties in the 28th and 57th minutes.

Walton’s Mark McLeod was sent off and he was soon joined by Liam Flanighan, the latter in the 81st minute for an offence which produced the day’s fourth penalty, this one converted by Joe Taylor. Chris Grayland’s own goal completed the misery.

Tooting had Laurent Hamici to thank for the day’s other home win. He scored twice in the last six minutes to snatch a 3-2 victory over Hythe, who have lost all three matches in 2013 and fallen out of the play-off places.

Dave Cook’s 18th league goal gave Hythe the lead after 19 minutes. Tyrone Berry squared it on the stroke of half-time but Jake Hobbs restored the Kent side’s lead with 20 minutes left.

The two sides below Hythe, Burgess Hill and Faversham, were both victims of the weather. Hillians’ home game against Herne Bay and Faversham’s trip to Horsham were both called off in the morning.

Billy Medlock made his debut for Worthing after moving down the road from Horsham and celebrated with a hat-trick as they came from behind to win 4-1 at Corinthian-Casuals.

Joel Thompson’s lob gave Casuals an early lead which Medlock wiped out in the 35th minute. Shortly afterwards he converted a penalty after he had been fouled, and he completed his treble midway through the second half. Matt Daniel wrapped up Worthing’s eighth away victory, not quite enough to make up for their nine home defeats.

Matt Crabb doubled his total of league goals with two in the first five minutes at Chipstead, setting Eastbourne in their way to a 5-2 win. His second was a penalty. Danny Curd pounced on a poor back-pass to make it 3-0 and John Lansdale added a fourth before the half-hour mark. Ben Austin completed the nap hand with 20 minutes left, after which Dyane Antonio and Kyle Green gave Chipstead a little consolation.

Ian Pulman returned to Whitstable, the club he left early in the season, and his goal a minute before half-time was all Ramsgate needed to collect three points. (Pulman, 10, is pictured by Les Biggs, on this occasion being denied by keeper Nick Shaw).

To complete a bad day for the Oystermen, top scorer Stuart Vahid has been forced to retire because of a knee injury. He played 130 games for Whitstable after joining them in 2009, scoring 44 goals.