FA Cup extra preliminary round
Bridgwater Town 1, Hallen 0

DAVE Thorne's second-half strike secured Bridgwater Town their first win of the season, and sent them into the next round of the FA Cup.

The Robins made a bright start at Fairfax Park, with Jack Taylor seeing a strike ruled out for offside and Dave O'Hare having an effort cleared off the line inside the first six minutes.

Ross McErlain then went for the spectacular following a corner, but his overhead kick struck the foot of the post.

Hallen had their chances, too, but thankfully for the home side Elliot Gibbons was unable to score from a one-on-one with Jake Viney and Isaac Reid sent a free header wide.

Bridgwater turned up the heat in the final 10 minutes before half-time, but with Taylor and Harry Horton's shots kept out by goalkeeper Liam MacFarlane, and Steve Murray denied by a goal-line block from a corner, it was goalless at the interval.

Finally the opener came in the 59th minute, as Thorne drove down the right, cut inside and picked out the corner for a fine individual goal.

The visitors were not going down without a fight, continuing to create chances, but Viney was equal to their efforts on goal as he made several smart saves.

With 10 minutes to go Taylor was denied by MacFarlane following Jake Llewellyn's well judged diagonal ball, and from the corner McErlain headed straight at the keeper.

Hallen almost equalised late on, only for Reid's shot from the edge of the box to strike the crossbar, and the Robins held out for the win.

Bridgwater Town: Jake Viney, David Thorne, Finley Wilkinson (Jake Llewellyn 72), Ross McErlain, Jamie Laird, Mark Armstrong (c), Mike Duffy, Harry Horton, Dave O'Hare (Sam Towler 69), Steve Murray (Patrick O'Halloran 78), Jack Taylor.
Subs not used: Tom Ellis, Jake Horsey.
Attendance: 129

Bridgwater will host Brislington - their opponents on the opening day of the season, for a match drawn 1-1 - in the next round, to be played on Saturday, August 24.

Before that, the Robins are back in Western League action this coming Saturday (ko 3pm), away to Chipping Sodbury Town.