FA Trophy preliminary round

Egham Town 2, Bridgwater Town 1

NINE-men Bridgwater Town exited the FA Trophy at the preliminary round stage following a 2-1 defeat at Southern League Central Division side Egham Town, writes Eddie Robinson.

Dean Griffiths and Kyle Tooze were both dismissed for the Robins, either side of Tom Knighton's equaliser.

A cleverly worked free-kick saw Tooze's effort saved after Knighton had made the opening, as Bridgwater started the brighter of the two sides, but the game soon evened itself out.

Egham attacked down the left, whilst Andrews' forceful runs set up chances for Stanislaus.

Egham went ahead on 18 minutes, when Stanislaus opted not to challenge Allward for a left wing cross, instead hanging back to pick up the loose ball before firing into the net from ten yards.

Both Egham's full-backs had been carded, before Griffiths was dealt with more harshly with a straight red card on 24 minutes.

A goal down and a man down, the prospects were not bright for Bridgwater, but they made light of the situation and Tooze was prominent with two good efforts.

In the second half, Egham enjoyed large periods of possession without really threatening the Bridgwater goal.

In a rare attack, Bridgwater equalised on 66 minutes when Tooze played in Knighton who finished well across the keeper and into the far corner.

But Bridgwater were only level for four minutes - Rudge lost out to Stanislaus down the middle and Matthews went on to drive the ball past John.

John kept Bridgwater in the game with a brilliant save when a shot deflected just a couple of yards in front of the 'keeper.

The referee, who had been very much the centre of attention all afternoon, awarding 26 free-kicks, soon issued his second red card after Tooze had slammed the ball into a nearby hoarding in frustration. I It was the Bridgwater player's second bookable offence and the visitors were forced to see out the final period with just nine men.

Tonight's league clash against Merthyr has been postponed for the third time due to the Welsh side having to play a cup replay.