THE BULLETIN

15th September 2019
Number 07

Midweek Action

On Tuesday evening, two goals from Jack Crago proved to be enough for Tavistock who held off a late fightback from Shepton Mallet to book their spot in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup. After the sides battling out an entertaining 3-3 draw three days previously, it was the Lambs who made a fast start against the previously unbeaten Mallet, with Jack Crago heading home after just 12 minutes. Crago had scored twice in the original tie, and he repeated that trick in the replay, doubling Tavistock’s lead ten minutes into the second half. The home side continued to battle, and when Asa White scored for the third consecutive FA Cup game there was hope, but the Devon side held out to set up a clash with Exmouth’s conquerors Highworth Town in the next round.

Clevedon Town staged a remarkable comeback away at Keynsham in the Premier Division, scoring three times in the final 20 minutes to claim a 4-3 victory. After George King had cancelled out Ben Dowdell’s tenth minute opener, the K’s struck twice toward the end of the first half through Ben Harris and Matt Brown to lead 3-1 at the break. With 20 minutes left on the clock, Elliott Nicholson pulled a goal back for Clevedon, with Saturday’s hero Lucas Vowles then grabbing the equaliser five minutes later. That left plenty of time for a late winner, and it was Vowles who struck five minutes into stoppage time to cap a memorable night for the Seasiders. In the night’s other fixture, two goals in the final 15 minutes from Jayden Neilson saw Brislington defeat Westbury 2-0 to give the home side their third successive league win. On Wednesday evening, Plymouth Parkway defeated Street 3-0 on the back of a fast start at the Tannery Ground. The visitors stormed into a two-goal lead in no time at all thanks to Adam Carter’s double, with Aaron Bentley completing the scoring during a one-sided first half. In the First Division, 19th placed Hengrove battled to a goalless draw away at early league leaders Oldland Abbotonians at the Aitchison Playing Fields.

FA Vase

Devon duo Tavistock and Exmouth Town flexed their goalscoring muscles during the second qualifying round of the Fa Vase, each scoring five goals during impressive away wins. Tavistock defeated unbeaten First Division outfit Cheddar 5-0 at Bowdens Park, with Jack Crago starring once again for the Lambs. Crago had already the scoring for the visitors, before Warren Daw doubled their lead seven minutes before the interval. The second half then belonged exclusively to Crago, with Tavistock’s star man scoring a further three times to take his tally to eight goals in the space of seven days. Exmouth claimed a 5-1 win away at Cadbury Heath, with braces from both Karl Rickard and Ace High securing their spot in the next round. Westbury United survived a first half red card during their 2-1 win away at Alton. Having headed his side into a 19th minute lead at Anstey Park, Westbury’s Dan Kovacs was given his marching orders soon after following a poorly-executed challenge. Alton then equalised 20 minutes from time, but it was the ten men who moved onto the next round after Joe Kirkpatrick fired home a dramatic winner from the edge of the area. There was also late drama in the tie involving Roman Glass St George where they eventually booked their passage through thanks to a 3-2 win away at Ivybridge. Having seen goals from Kye Simpson and Kaine Gazzard cancelled out either side of the break, Ryan Radford struck in stoppage time to hand Roman Glass another memorable cup victory. Two goals apiece from Asa White and Aaron Seviour helped Shepton Mallet defeat Street 5-2 during the only all-Premier Division tie, while a curling effort before the break from Neikell Plummer saw Bradford beat Hamble 1-0. Buckland Athletic will also take part in the next round after two goals from Richard Groves, plus strikes from Ryan Bush and Louis Jagger-Kane led them to a 4-0 win away at Bodmin Town. Charlie Walton was another player to strike twice on Saturday, with the Warminster skipper scoring in either half of their 2-1 victory over Alresford Town. After 120 minutes of football, Sherborne and Petersfield could not be separated and will face a replay at Love Lane on Tuesday evening. Sherborne trailed 2-1 at the break despite a goal from Sam Carney, with Josh Williams then grabbing an equaliser during the second half to send the game to extra time. Neither side could make the required breakthrough during the additional half hour, and will meet again in Hampshire to decide who prevails. The other seven Western League sides all saw their runs in this year’s Vase come to an end, suffering 90 minute defeats despite all finding the back of the net during their encounters. Harry Foster’s late strike wasn’t enough for Wells City who went down to a 2-1 defeat at home to Newton Abbot Spurs, with Wincanton losing by the same scoreline away at Downton. The early season struggles of Devizes Town continued at home to Newport from the Isle of Wight, with Sean McKeon’s 18th minute opener eventually proving insufficient during a 3-1 defeat. 

Corsham also suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to Romsey Town of the Wessex League, while Ashton & Backwell were beaten 2-1 away at Cornwall’s Camelford. The recent positive momentum gained by Radstock Town wasn’t enough for them to see off Bovey Tracey, who completed an impressive 3-2 comeback win at the Southfields Rec. The Miners made a fantastic start  to the game and after Scott Gregory had headed them into a 3rd minute lead, influential playmaker Jack Biddiscombe then lobbed the visiting keeper from 35 yards to make it 2-0 inside quarter of an hour. Radstock then fell apart during the final third of the match, relinquishing their lead 15 minutes from time, before conceding a third goal late on while they were down to ten men following a sin bin. Nine-man Portishead also lost despite going ahead, with opponents Torpoint scoring three times during extra-time to eventually prevail 4-1 at The Mill.

Premier Division

The crowd were royally entertained at Moorhouse Lane, where Bridgwater Town secured a 6-4 win over Hallen. The goalscoring began in the 19th minute, with the home side going ahead thanks to a bicycle kick from inside the area by Rob Latham. Bridgwater have already enjoyed 7-0 and 8-1 victories this season, and they were in the mood for more goals on Saturday afternoon, with Jack Taylor, Jake Horsey and Sam Towler scoring in the space of six minutes to turn the game on its head. Hallen rebounded from that setback in first half stoppage time when Kyle Thomas pulled a goal back, with the same man then levelled the scores from the spot seven minutes after the break. The goals continued to fly in, and after Steve Murray had restored Bridgwater’s advantage with a penalty of his own, substitute Jake Llewellyn also scored from 12 yards to move the away side into a two-goal lead. Thomas completed his hat-trick to give Hallen hope of a late fightback, but that was ended in stoppage time when David O’Hare became the sixth Bridgwater player to find the back of the net. Bolitho Park also witnessed ten goals on Saturday afternoon, but unfortunately for Odd Down, all of them belonged to the home side. League leaders Plymouth Parkway only led by two at the interval, with Fletcher Williams scoring inside the opening minute, before providing the assist for Adam Carter to double their tally five minutes before the break. The floodgates opened in the second half, with the Bath side conceding eight goals in the space of 45 minutes, two of them going to Carter who completed another hat-trick. Mike Williams struck twice at the beginning of the half, with his namesake Fletcher completing a brace of his own, adding to further goals from Aaron Bentley, Curtis Damerell and Jordan Copp. 

Wellington claimed their first points of the season, putting in an excellent performance to defeat fourth-placed Brislington 3-0 away from home. The Seasiders went ahead in the 11th minute, when Jack Bryant teed up his brother Conor to slot the ball past the Brislington keeper. Joe Chamberlain then doubled the lead on the half hour, before adding his second in the early stages of the second half to complete the win. Cribbs were another club to secure their first league win of the campaign, with Joe White striking twice early against his former side Chipping Sodbury Town to claim a 2-0 victory at the Ridings. In another entertaining encounter, Bridport and Keynsham were forced to share the points after battling out a 3-3 draw in Dorset. Having fallen behind to Ben Harris’s opener, Bridport battled back and led 15 minutes into the second half thanks to a pair of goals from Nathan Warren and Lewis Clarke. Harris then struck from long range to draw Keynsham level, with Bridport’s Declan Cornish also scoring from outside the area to put the hosts back ahead ten minutes from time. That left Keynsham plenty of time to gain something from the game, and they did just that, with Adey Harvey heading them level two minutes into stoppage time.

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