Team BC and Bridgwater Town Reserves lost 1 – 0 to Nailsea Town, despite dominating territory and possession for most of the match.
Bridgwater fielded a squad with 11 players under the age of 19, and faced a Nailsea side on a difficult pitch buoyed by their excellent away win last week. Their starting 11 also saw 16 year old James Annison make his debut in goal, captain Harry Horton start his first game for four months, and 17 year old Charlie White having his first start at centre back.
Bridgwater started the game brightly with the midfield trio Alex Male, Mike Duffy and Harry Horton dominating proceedings and passing the ball neatly. Against the run of play it was Nailsea who took the lead as their number 11 looked to be offside, but ran through and cooly finished past Annison.
Bridgwater upped the tempo with wide players Owen Sellick and Lee Villis. Villis was particularly impressive and he beat his man and crossed three times in quick succession, only for Nailsea to put in a last ditch block on each occasion. Bridgwater were indebted to Annison, shortly before half-time, as he produced an excellent save to flick the ball over the bar from a powerful header.
The second half followed a similar pattern with Bridgwater camped in the Nailsea half, but all too often they failed to connect with the final pass and lacked that killer instinct in the final third. A string of corners were well defended by Nailsea as Bridgwater laid siege to the Nailsea goal, and Callum Laird and later Charlie White both had shots blocked on the six yard box.
Final score: Team BC & Bridgwater Town Reserves 0 – 1 Nailsea Town
Luke Buckingham, Manager said,
“We fielded our youngest squad of the season today by some distance and we played some nice football on what was a very difficult pitch. We got ourselves in good positions time and time again, but we weren't quite able to find a way through. Credit to Nailsea as they threw their bodies in the way and made it difficult for us, but it's another bit of experience for this young group and we'll dust ourselves off and move on to next week.”
