Tuesday night football and, although the Robins arrived with the wind in their sails following a 4-0 win over Buckland, Brislington at Ironmould Lane were going to prove a good test.
Midweek trips are a particular kind of examination; with heavy legs from the weekend and the long journey eating into the evening.
Dave Pearse named a familiar first XI, with the only change being Duffy coming into right back to replace Dave Thorne.
FIRST HALF
The drama came early, and it came from nowhere. Four minutes had been played when Shea Mannings was shown a red card for an off-the-ball incident. I didn’t see what had happened, only heard the appeals from the fans and players on the pitch. There was a slightly strange delay as the game continued before the officials conferred, and then the card. Whatever the referee saw, or was told, the outcome was the same: Bridgwater down to ten men, with eighty-six minutes still to play.
Naturally, we dropped a yard deeper, tightened up, and set about weathering the incoming storm. Brislington sensed their opportunity and won a succession of corners in the minutes that followed, but the defence dealt with them well.
It could not last forever, though, and on twelve minutes the extra man told. A pacey Brislington attack cut through us and the finish, from close range into the bottom corner, gave the home side the lead. Ten men, a goal down, and not even a quarter of an hour on the clock.
What followed said a great deal about this group of players. Rather than retreat into their shells, they went looking for a way back. On fifteen minutes Collins won the ball high up the pitch and charged down the right-hand side, squaring it across the face of goal. For a moment it looked certain a red shirt would arrive, but a Brislington defender got there first and hacked it clear.
Five minutes later, we had the ball in the net. The celebrations had barely begun when the referee ruled it out for a foul on the goalkeeper. The Bridgy bench were furious, the travelling support not far behind them, and from where we stood it was hard to see why the goal didn’t stand.
The game continued in the same rhythm, Brislington with a touch more of the ball, but 10-man Bridgwater more than holding their own and working harder than ever to get back into the game.
Up stepped The Vicar. After a neat 1-2, Jason Quick met the ball on his left foot and sent a half-volley soaring into the top corner in what must be a big contender for goal of the season.
HALF TIME: BRISLINGTON 1-1 BRIDGWATER UNITED
What a half. A red card inside four minutes, a goal conceded inside twelve, a goal disallowed, and then a wonder strike to level it up. Pearse would have his work cut out reorganising the side and finding how we would get three points from a game that looked beyond us after ten minutes. The worry, of course, was what would come next. Ten against eleven is tiring work, and Brislington would surely come again.
SECOND HALF
Bridgwater came out like a rocket in the second half, and, despite the disadvantage, took the game by the scruff of the neck. Barely a minute after the restart, a ball over the top found Sam Beresford, and his first touch was so good it carried him clean through on goal. One-on-one with the keeper, he kept his composure and slotted it neatly into the bottom corner. A man down, a goal down, and now, remarkably, ahead.
On sixty-five we felt we should have had a penalty. Mills looked to have been fouled in the box as he tried to get a shot away, but the referee waved play on. Moments later the ball was punted forward to Beresford again, who unleashed a wicked volley that flew just over the crossbar.
By now the pattern of the game was clear. Bridgwater had dropped into a low block, defending deep and compact, and looking to counter whenever the chance arose. It is not the prettiest way to play football, but with ten men and a lead to protect, it was inevitable. And it seemed to be working. Brislington not creating anything clearcut.
A long goal kick was brought down beautifully by Beresford, who laid it into the path of Chambers. Haydan jinked inside, sold his defender, and curled a beauty into the bottom corner. From the depths of that first quarter of an hour, we were now two goals to the good and looked to have bagged the win.
Frustratingly, only moments later, the home side won the ball high up the pitch and finished well into the bottom corner to halve the deficit, and the closing stages promised to be nervous ones.
They were, but the lads handled them superbly. Brislington threw everything forward and Bridgwater soaked it all up, bodies on the line, every clearance greeted like a goal by the away support.
Then, in the ninetieth minute, came the moment that settled it. Chambers trapped the ball and backheeled it into the path of Beresford, who was steaming towards goal completely unmarked. He had already scored once tonight with a similar run and he did so again. He clipped it past the goalkeeper and into the net, and the away end went wild.
FULL TIME: BRISLINGTON 2-4 BRIDGWATER UNITED
A man down inside four minutes, a goal down inside twelve, and Bridgwater United won the game by two clear goals. Ten men for eighty-six minutes, away from home, on a Tuesday night, three days after a full ninety at the weekend. The outcome was better than anyone could have hoped for after the early drama, and it gives massive credit to both the quality and the work rate of the team.
Dave Pearse echoed that sentiment in his post-match comments, sharing just how proud he was of all the lads for their work.
The defence stood firm under pressure, and the attack, sharing the running of a man light, still found the quality to score four goals away from home.
Sam Beresford took the Man of the Match award, and there was no argument. Two goals and a shift that saw him running from first whistle to last.
Alongside him, Haydan Chambers came off the bench to score one and make one, and between them they turned the last quarter of an hour into something special.
Once again, our travelling support was superb, a big thanks to you.
We are next in action on Saturday, as we finally return to Fairfax Park to take on Saltash United.
The Bridgy go marching on.
#WeAreUnited
