Bridgwater Town vs. Willand
The penultimate game of pre-season saw Willand back on the road as they headed across the Somerset border to Fairfax Park, home of Bridgwater United.
Manager David Steele was looking to continue Rovers unbeaten start to the pre-season after impressive draws against Southern League opposition in the form of Tiverton and Taunton and welcomed new signing Alfie Cunningham to the squad after some impressive performances. The Willand manager was also able to field a near-starting defensive line with Edwards returning to join Guppy and Searle, with Sa filling in for a vacationing Richards.
Bridgwater came into the game only 3 days before the start of their Western League, and the extra week of fitness training showed in the earlier exchanges as the home team pushed forward, Sowden pulling off an excellent save from a Tucker strike in the 16th minute. The visitor’s tempo was further affected in the 20th minute when both Searle and Edwards were forced off with injuries, replaced by Kempster and Armstrong.
The half continued to meander towards the inevitable orange break without either team able to find a firm footing, a multi-man melee in the 32nd minute the highlight, culminating in a forced Rovers substitution as Cunningham replaced Page.
Half Time: Bridgwater Town 0 – Willand 0
The second half kicked off with the usual pre-season substitutions, with Bath replacing Copp for Willand, and it took the new Willand signing only 10 minutes to announce his intentions, albeit with a shot that may have reached Willand before it finally landed.
It didn’t take long for the striker to find the target, though, with another good run culminating with a well-placed shot that nestled in the bottom corner of the Bridgwater net to give the visitors the lead in the 62nd minute.
To their credit this only lit a fire under the home team, who would have considered themselves to be unlucky to have been behind, and only a combination of luck, bad judgement, and some excellent work from Sowden kept the lead intact until Hodge beat substitute keeper Seymour in the 80th minute.
Not to be outdone by his new strike partner though, Shepperd regained the lead for Willand in the 88th with a 30-yard lob that beat Smith, and with little time left on the referee’s watch, it was a goal worthy of winning the game.
David Steele and his team will be happy with the display and even happier to remain unbeaten, especially against a Bridgwater team that should be challenging for the Western League come May.
He’ll also hope that the injuries are only minor as he looks forward to the visit of Honiton on Monday to conclude the pre-season.
Full Time Bridgwater Town 1 – Willand 2
