Bridport Hawks 2 – North Devon 1
Bridport entertained the promotion seeking feisty North Devon side at the
Sir John Colfox School on Saturday.
After a 6 nil trashing away to Exeter University the previous week Bridport
were desperately hoping to regain some form and secure points to keep from
being dragged into a relegation battle.
With three regulars out Bridport had to bring in stalwarts Phil Bosworth and
Lewis Stripp to bolster the ranks. Also making his debut appearance was
seventeen year old Harry West-Taylor filling in at Left Midfield.
North Devon a very fit and physical team and looking for this win to take
them in to second place applied pressure from the start and were lucky not
to go ahead early on had not been for the great saves of stopper Mark Smith.
Perhaps over commitment was North Devon’s downfall as a neatly threaded ball
from Midfield Talisman James King to skipper May left the defence exposed
and he found himself in the D with a one-on-one chance with the oppositions
Goal keeper. May was brought down in a collision and in the ensuing melee
the ball popped out for Alex Davies to mop up and open the scoring. From the
re-start North Devon countered with relentless pressure and had lots of
possession with only the dynamic athleticism of Charlie Davies and Tommy
Craddock keeping the sheet clean.
Near the end of the first half Super Striker Andrew Frampton in the current
form of his life pounced on the North Devon right-back when he
miss-controlled a ball played to him from his sweeper to rifle a fantastic
shot into the backboard and make it 2 nil at half time.
In the second half a disgruntled North Devon came out with guns blazing and
won a penalty corner early on which they duly converted. Feeling back in the
game they continued to dominate most of the second half but could not break
down the defence with Connolly making crucial tackles and Man of the match
Mark Smith making a number of fine last minute saves to earn Bridport a much
needed three points.
“Skipper May was ecstatic after the game and commented: “It wasn’t a pretty
game but the team worked really hard and we ground out the win - that
basically keeps the team from slipping into relegation zone”
Hawks: May, Harry West-Taylor, Craddock, A Davies, C Davies, L. Stripp,
King, Smith, P Bosworth, Connolly. Umpires: Gavin Brooking, Mike May.
Bridport Hawks 3 - Taunton Civil Service 3
Hawks show courage in fight back
In a feisty contest Bridport Hawks fought back from an early two goal
deficit to grab a share of the spoils and keep ahead of one of the sides
battling for survival at the bottom of the South East Div 1 of the West of
England & South Wales league.
Bridport were desperate to avoid defeat to ensure maintaining at least the
five point gap between their Somerset rivals, but things look ominous as the
visitors took their chances in the opening minutes.
Although the home side were more decisive in the attack, Taunton took the
lead on three minutes when Richard Acklon drove the ball home at the third
attempt in a goalmouth melee after keeper Mark Smith had made two terrific
saves to keep his goal intact.
They increased their lead on eleven minutes when Ben Gavagan scored from a
short corner routine.
However the Hawks hopes were revived two minutes later when a clever lofted
ball from skipper Julian May put Andrew Frampton in the clear. Whether his
first attempt, an air shot at goal, was a dummy or forced as a result of the
pace he was travelling is not sure, but it did the trick completely taking
the keeper out of the equation, and he scored with a clever shot from an
acute angle at the second attempt.
The Hawks picked up the pace as a result of this goal, and they should have
equalised on 20 minutes when good work from Alex Davies and the Frampton
with a ball across the face of goal left Giles Harvey (7) with an easy
chance at the far post but he somehow pushed the ball wide of the goal.
Hawks did get level though four minutes later when man of the match Alex
Davies played May in and he smashed his shot wide of the keeper into the
corner of the backboards.
The game continued to be nip and tuck with Bridport in the main having the
upper hand without any additional scoring until ten minutes from time when
Hawks nosed ahead. Frampton’s shot from a short corner was deflected to
injector Alex Davies who tucked it home at the near post.
The visitors became quite aggressive as they searched for an equaliser, and
despite some yellow cards and a couple of superb saves by Smith, they drew
level when they took advantage of poor play from a Bridport sideline hit and
Acklon was on hand to convert a neat move.
The game ended with a visiting player being shown a red card for a
horrendous foul on Lee Connolly and a share of the spoils.
Bridport 1 Yeovil A 1
After a good away win against Sid mouth last week Bridport entertained
promotion hopefuls Yeovil A at home - holding out for a well deserved point
against second in the league Yeovil A on Saturday.
After a few losses before Christmas Bridport were in desperate need of
racking up a few points to open up the gap from the bottom place teams in
the South East Division 1 table. Always a difficult team to play against
Yeovil were known for their physicality on and off the ball and it would be
a true measure of Hawks to get anything form this. But fielding the same
youthful team as last week Bridport felt they we’re always in the frame for
taking something from this tough encounter.
From the start of the game Bridport pressured Yeovil well not allowing them
time on the ball. After ten minutes into the game Yeovil’s centre forward
won a penalty corner which was only put away with a defected hit that took
the ball millimetres from stopper Smiths finger tips. Bridport counter
attacked immediately and looked like scoring until sweeper Brooking was
horrifically fouled. Losing control of his temper he decided his aggressor
needed a quick bop around the head with his stick for such a terrible foul.
Unfortunately for Brooking the umpire saw this and was promptly sin binned
on the sideline for 15 minutes. Down to 10 men Bridport struggled against a
relentless onslaught of Yeovil attacks only the dazzling athleticism and
courage of Charles Davies and Left back Tom Craddock kept Hawks from being
punished for the remainder of the half.
Back to a full side in the second half Bridport reasserted themselves, a
quick open game ensued with both sides missing scoring chances. In the last
quarter Alex Davies used his skill to make a fine midfield run to find
himself in the D able squeeze his shot past the Yeovil keeper on the near
post. Yeovil realising this game was crucial to their promotion hopes piled
on the pressure, but it was a case of the unstoppable force meeting the
immovable object of Davies, Cox and man of the match Craddock in defence -
with Brooking playing well making up for his earlier blip. This gritty
defensive performance allowed Hawks to take a well deserved point.
Team: May, Brooking, Craddock, A Davies, C Davies, Cox, Rowe, King,
Cleverly, Smith, Bugg. Umpires: Lee Connolly, Mike May.
