Three Bridges held promotion hopefuls Burgess Hill to a 0-0 draw despite playing more than an hour with 10 men.
Dean Carden became the first Bridges player this season to be shown a straight red card after the referee ruled he threw a punch at Hillian’s skipper Darren Budd.
The dismissal came after only 27 minutes, leaving the remaining players two-thirds of the match to see-out against the ninth-placed side which is aiming to get into the play-off places.
In fact Bridges, who are struggling for Ryman League survival at the foot of the table, had the better of the first half, creating the majority of attacking play, even if they were unable to put keeper Mark Zawadski under pressure.
Before the sending-off Joel O’Hara had an appeal for a penalty turned down after he was brought down in the visitors’ area.
Marcus Elliott had an attempt on goal which was deflected off a defender and had the power taken off it before flying tamely to Zawadski.
In a good move from the left flank, the ball was played by Elliott to O’Hara, who got into a dangerous position but mishit his shot.
At the other end, Bridges’ keeper Jess Grimstone saved a powerful drive from a Pat Harding free-kick. The ball fell to Max Howell whose follow-up shot was ruled offside.
Stuart Tuck went close for the Hillians from a Budd free-kick but was off-target from the edge of the area.
Not surprisingly Burgess Hill tried to make their numerical advantage count in the second half and enjoyed long periods of possession as they pushed forward.
However Bridges’ defence, led by skipper Ellis Hooper and Yaw Boeteng, who made his starting debut at right back, managed to deal with everything that came their way and limited scoring chances to a minimum.
Williams Peauroux and Marlon Maxwell cleared two dangerous situations in the area as Bridges managed to keep a clean sheet.
Finally Bridges nearly grabbed all three points when Hassan Nyang spinted forward in a breakaway attack and was tackled by Sam Fisk in the Hillians’ area. A penalty appeal was turned down by referee Kieron Bailey.
BRIDGES: Jess Grimstone, Yaw Boeteng, Dean Carden, Marlon Maxwell, Ellis Hooper, Joel O’Hara, Williams Peauroux, Hassan Nyang, Romone McCrae, Abu Touray, Marcus Elliott (Anton Murphy 77, Moshood Olafunmishe 82)
ATTENDANCE: 168