Bridgewater

Posted by ChrisB on February 4, 2008, 9:16 pm

Hope this is still of some use to someone ... only just got back from the West - passport impounded at Weston-super-Mare checkpoint!

City’s second visit of the season to the county of Somerset took them to Fairfax Park, home of Bridgwater Town for the last twenty four years. Like City, Bridgwater lost their previous ground, Castle Field, in the ‘80s and have, rather more slowly than City, had to work their way back into Senior football. Anyway their first season back in the Southern League has proved to be a good one and the match always promised to be a close encounter.
The opening exchanges were won, unsurprisingly, by the two meanest defences in the division and set the scene for much of the afternoon’s play with both attacks having to try to make something of the minimum of clear opportunities.
Kevin Chorley was the first to be nearest the target early on, while a run on the right by Mark Bell allowed James Saulsbury to deliver one of his difficult, curling centres into the Bridgwater box that Tom Manley did well to hold under pressure from Errol Tellemaque.
Nat Pepperell’s acceleration took him into a promising position for the home side, but Ricky Allaway was quick to spot the danger and produce a well-timed tackle.
On ten minutes both Allaway and Chorley had to leave the pitch after a clash of heads brought Justin Merritt racing from the dugout for a frank discussion with Mr Barter and lengthy blood-staunching repairs from the two physios.
Increased home pressure saw some scrambled clearances from the City rearguard before Richard Lamacraft wasted the best of several possibilities, slicing his shot wide of the post.
Play moved to the other end, and Steve Davis, Bell and then Saulsbury all lifted testing crosses into the penalty area. From the last of these a Bridgwater defender hooked the ball towards the side-line and, as the nearest players jogged towards the probable throw-in, the ball curled, bounced and stayed in play. Pepperell reacted first, and sprinted from well inside his own half, down the right flank, and, cutting in, crashed an unstoppable shot across Steve Smith and into the top corner on 21 minutes.
City dug deep, fought back, and were back on terms within five minutes. Good work on the City left saw Leon Woodruffe release Steve Davis who eventually found Darren Pond just outside the box. He had little time to line up his strike, but it was on target and bounced just in front of Manley who failed to hold the ball cleanly and Yashwa Romeo, following up well, was just first to the rebound and nudged the ball home.
Defences claimed the upper hand again and, as the half went on, neither side really got close enough to test either Smith or Manley. Pepperell fired high from distance for the Robins, and Davis was also high with a long-range lob as he tried to beat Manley when the keeper found himself on the ground after he had had to punch clear with Romeo in attendance.
The only real chance of the second quarter came from City’s sixth corner as a good delivery from Bell found the ball loose in the area after Manley and Mark Avery had jumped together and Tellemaque toe-poked the ball just wide with the defence claiming a foul on the keeper.

HALF TIME: Bridgwater Town 1-1 Oxford City

Bridgwater went the nearer in the early part of the second half when Jak Martin, unmarked near the far post, could have done better with his header from a Pepperell corner, and Pepperell, himself, a few minutes later lashed a loose ball high over the bar.
Davis was working hard on the left and twice got behind the back four before Avery showed some classy footwork to deliver a ball that eventually reached Bell whose pull-back from the goal-line set Romeo up for a shot against the base of the post.
Just on the hour a long ball out of defence reached Davis and, with City players and supporters berating the unsighted Mr Barter for missing an obvious handball by a red-shirted defender, he beat his man and delivered a precise cross for Tellemaque to outjump Manley near the penalty-spot and head home.
Bridgwater’s turn to fight back, and the City defence was having to work hard to keep them at bay. At least one hurried clearance gave the local rail franchise a ready-made excuse (“...wrong type of ball on the line”) for late-running, and several corners were conceded in a short space of time. Whether delivered by Pepperell or Pete Monks all caused problems, and on 68 minutes substitute Brett Trowbridge was in the right spot to put the finishing touch to one from Monks.
Over the final twenty minutes few chances presented themselves. For the Robins Monks had a free-kick in a potentially dangerous spot, but fired straight at Smith; and Jamie Price headed another corner worryingly near to the target. City’s best hopes came when Bell looped a dipping pass into the path of Romeo, but overelaboration saw the chance slip away; and, with time running out Liam Malone couldn’t keep his shot down as he ran onto a cross from Bell.

FULL TIME: Bridgwater Town 2-2 Oxford City

City: Smith, Saulsbury, Woodruffe, Gunn, Pond, Allaway (Avery 30), Bell, Malone, Romeo, Tellemaque (Stewart 77), Davis.

A tough, and occasionally volatile game and, having finally edged in front, City may feel they should have kept their grip on the three points, but, on balance, two goals apiece was probably a fair reflection on the play.