Toolstation Western League: St Blazey 1-0 Bridgwater United

BRIDGWATER United were on the road for the 7th time in their last 10 games, this time to 13th placed St Blazey for the first ever league meeting of the two clubs, writes Bob Buckingham.

Certainly, most ‘pundits would have had this as a ‘nailed on’ away win given recent form and, notably, the outstanding performances by United in their most recent games.

However, such are the vagaries of football, that the result upset the form book completely and saw the hosts run out winners by a single goal, the first time in 16 games that ‘The Robins’ had failed to score.

Based on the early exchanges, no one present would have expected the score to finish as it did. Buoyed by their recent successes, United were out the blocks quickly, so much so that they totally dominated both territory and possession. A corner earned in the first minute caused problems for the home defence but, to their relief, the ‘keeper intervened to good effect.

Within minutes, another corner saw Jack Taylor head against the bar and seconds later just fail to latch on to an astute ball from Jack Thorne. Multiple further chances were created in the next 15 minutes with Murray and Thorne either narrowly missing the target or being thwarted by the busy ‘keeper.

As the tempo of the game slowed marginally, United continued to dominate as the home defence stood firm. With the interval fast approaching, and totally against the run of play, good play by Ryan Downing saw him slot home to give the home side a lead that even they were surely not expecting!

The second half began in a similar vein to the first with United pushing forward with determination in their search for an equaliser. Their hopes of doing so were enhanced when, on 52 minutes, Shaun Semmens the home ‘keeper was sin-binned with goalscorer Downing taking the gloves for a 10-minute stint.

The St Blazey defence redoubled their efforts and continued to stymy the now more desperate United attack. Despite several close calls with and with 9 added minutes, United fell to just their second league defeat of the season.

Despite the disappointment of the result, United sit in third position, just a single point behind new leaders Clevedon Town.

Next up for United is a trip to Portishead Town on Tuesday 24th October in the second round of the Les Phillips Cup KO 19:30.