Toolstation Western League
Premier Division
Clevedon Town 1, Bridgwater Town 0

BRIDGWATER Town slipped down to third spot in the early Premier Division standings, after losing out in a hard-fought match at fellow high-fliers Clevedon Town on Saturday.

Archie Ferris scored the only goal of the game on a sweltering afternoon, with visiting player-manager Dave Pearse being sent off in the second half.

The away side made a bright start, with Jake Brown prominent, and an early penalty appeal was waved away.

However, both defences stood firm, and there were no shots on goal for the first half-hour, until Clevedon began to get on top.

Following a stoppage in play for a drinks break, Ferris latched onto a through ball and placed his shot past Jake Viney to give his side the lead on 34 minutes.

It remained 1-0 at the interval, and Viney had to be alert upon the interval to make a good save to his left, keeping the deficit to one.

After 50 minutes, Brown came agonisingly close to an equaliser, beating the offside trip and guiding his shot past the keeper, only for the ball to come back off the foot of the post.

Sam Towler then headed straight at the keeper from Harry Horton's cross, before disaster struck on 75 minutes.

Co-manager Pearse, who had only come on 10 minutes before, was shown a straight red for a high tackle, leaving his side down to 10 men.

And although they pushed forward, there was to be no way back for them, Clevedon claiming all three points.

Bridgwater Town: Jake Viney, Dave Thorne, Kurt Robinson (c), Mark Armstrong, Josh White, Tom Ellis, Sam Towler, Harry Horton (Charlie White 85), Jack Taylor, Jake Brown (Dave Pearse 65), Jake Llewellyn.
Subs not used: Steve Laker, Cameron Birch.

Bridgwater's next match is this coming Sunday (October 7, ko 11am), at home to Bridport - the fixture being part of the Western League's Groundhop Weekend.