Bridgewater

Bridgwater paid their first ever visit to Court Place Farm on yet another windy afternoon looking for the three points that would keep them in contention for a play-off place. City were, of course, looking for three points to cement their position as one of the home sides in the play-offs: so plenty to play for.

Much of the early play saw both sides, perhaps aware of the implications of a defeat, fairly tentative in their approach, with little or no goalmouth action at either end to bring the fair-sized crowd to life.

Gradually City began to gain the upper hand but the Bridgwater defence, third strongest away from home in the league this season, marked tightly and covered well. Darren Pond took advantage of a momentary hesitation by a Red defender on ten minutes and took the chance for a shot from distance that passed none too far over the bar. Errol Telemaque was finding a little extra room on the right flank and on two or three occasions had promising runs at the defence, the best of which led to a slick one-two with Michael Lyon but the shot was just wide of the post.

City came closest to scoring on twenty minutes when a long centre from Leon Woodruffe, making good ground down the left, was well controlled and held up by Lyon. His pass into Pond’s path was well-timed and his crisp shot had many home supporters already applauding the goal as the ball flashed just the wrong side of Tom Manley’s right-hand post.
Bridgwater seemed content to bide their time, defend in numbers and break when the opportunities, which were not numerous, arose. Nat Pepperell delivered a testing free-kick into the box, but Steve Smith stood his ground well and claimed the ball; and a quick break on the visitors’ left, engineered by Brett Trowbridge and Tom Clarke, led to back-to-back corners that produced difficulties in the box that needed Mark Avery at his coolest to resolve.
Telemaque produced another incisive run for the Blues and only a very timely intervention from Jamie Laird stopped Lyon having a free run on goal from Telemaque’s pass.

The visitors had their best spell as the clock was running down. Chris Young set up a promising run for Pepperell, but the Bridgwater top-scorer was eased off the ball by Avery as he looked set to cut into the box. Pepperell then delivered another testing free-kick but Young, near the penalty spot, directed his header straight into Smith’s hands. But the best chance for the Reds came with two minutes left as Steve Orchard exchanged passes with Trowbridge and then hit a low shot that Smith got down to well by his right-hand post.

HALF-TIME: Oxford City 0-0 Bridgwater Town

Michael Lyon started the second half with a powerful run on the left and again Bridgwater had to thank Laird as he covered well to snuff out the danger.

At the other end Bridgwater were beginning to increase the pressure and Young and Clarke both tried their luck with shots from some distance, but neither troubled Smith. Young then found himself with room to manoeuvre on the right and his firm shot took a slight deflection and slid past the far post for a corner, from which Smith did well though under considerable pressure.

While the visitors were pressing for the lead a long clearance from the City defence eventually led to a throw-in from which James Saulsbury picked out Alex Stewart in the box who worked his way round two tackles, and into a great position, to shoot hard, but waywardly.

The visitors crept in front on 58 minutes when a free-kick close to the touchline on the City right was hit hard and low into the danger area by Nat Pepperell from more than 25 yards, evaded absolutely everybody and nestled in the far corner of the goal. And the same player nearly increased the lead two minutes later when his corner-kick was clutched right beneath the bar by Steve Smith.

City promptly rang the changes with Jon Gardner and Yashwa Romeo replacing Telemaque and Bell, and Romeo was quickly into his stride finding Woodruffe with a well-struck pass to the far angle of the penalty box, and his shot was scrambled away by Martin.

A fine cross-field pass from Liam Malone picked out Lyon’s run and his curling centre was headed just wide by Stewart rising well above the defence.

Pushing forward in search of that equaliser was leaving spaces at the back for Bridgwater to utilise and Smith saved well at Young’s feet as the striker broke through; there were more worries at the back as Young charged down Saulsbury’s clearance and the ball spun to Pepperell who, off-balance, struck his attempt wide; and then Young, in the thick of the action again, set up Ben Kirk for a shot that Smith gathered well.

As the game reached the 80 minute mark Romeo picked out Gardner in the box and his shot was nudged just round the post by a defender, and Lyon did exceptionally well to keep in an over-hit pass and deliver a telling cross, and another well-timed/last-ditch tackle was needed from a defender to whisk the ball off Andy Gunn’s toes as he prepared to shoot.

Entering added time and City threw men forward in a final attempt to claw back a point, but, despite two or three corners and a free-kick or two, Bridgwater’s eleven-man defence kept their nerve and denied the home side any really clear-cut opportunities, and will travel back down the motorway knowing their play-off chances are still very much alive.

For City, slipping to fourth will heighten the realisation that, with only one point covering Fleet, Didcot and themselves, the importance of the last two games of the season has just increased a notch or two.

FULL-TIME: Oxford City 0-1 Bridgwater Town

Oxford City: Smith, Saulsbury, Woodruffe, Gunn, Pond, Avery, Telemaque (Romeo 62), Malone, Stewart (Faulconbridge 72), Lyon, Bell (Gardner 62).

Bridgwater Town: Manley, Price, Laird, Orchard, Martin, Trowbridge, Kirk, Forward, Young (Mackay 80), Clarke (Monks 85), Pepperell (Lamacraft 90).