Clevedon Utd 1 Wrington Redhill 1
As pre season friendlies go this was a keenly contested sometimes feisty affair. The 1st half started with good spells of possession for the home team without them creating anything mostly thanks to some solid defending from Chis Bradley and Ethan Johnson in the middle of the visitors back four. After 10 minutes it was Wrington Redhill who almost opened the scoring. An Ollie Clements corner from the left eventually fell at the feet of skipper Ethan Johnson but he couldn’t get a shot away and in the goalmouth scramble that followed the ball almost crossed the line twice before it was cleared. Clevedon then went close when they broke through the middle of the Wrington defence but James Williams in goal for the visitors blocked the effort with his feet. For Wrington Redhill the lively George Fake brought a great save out of Dunne in goal for Clevedon with a well struck shot from outside of the box. Soon after Wrington thought they’d taken the lead but Fake’s well placed header was pushed around the post by Dunne. At the other end Williams was once again called into action when the Clevedon centre forward danced past Johnson and unleashed a great effort that Williams did well to push wide. Wrington Redhill finished the half the stronger and the unlucky Fake had another well placed header from a Thomas cross well saved and had earlier shot wide when well placed. Manager Leigh White had the the team well organised and there were encouraging debuts from Sam Harvey and Matt Walsh.
Several changes were made by both teams at half time including the introduction of Wrington Redhill’s Joe Crease who certainly added a new dimension to the visitors attack with some probing runs down the right. It came as a real surprise to the visitors when Clevedon took the lead. A Wrington Redhill corner was miss judged by Dunne and eventually to Harvey who headed it back into the danger zone. Somehow the ball got cleared and the long punt upfield in the swirling wind deceived Briggs and the ball bounced over his head and into the path of the Clevedon centre forward who rounded Hill in goal to put the home side 1 up. The game continued to be evenly contested with chances at both ends but the visitors got their deserved equaliser 10 minutes from time. Callum Briggs went on a charging run from deep in his own half and eventually fed the ball out to Ryan Pugh on the left wing. He took on and beat the Clevedon full back before sliding the ball in to Ethan Williams who’s clever turn and shot beat goalkeeper Dunne. Despite more chances at both ends the game ended 1 – 1.
A fair result and a very good game.
Team.
Goalkeeper. James Williams
Defence. Matt Walsh, Ethan Johnson, Chris Bradley, Ryan Pugh.
Midfield. Rory Thomas, Leigh White, Sam Harvey, Ollie Clements.
Strikers. George Fake, Ethan Williams.
Replacements. Matt Hill, Jason Potter, Joe Crease, Callum Briggs