The Somerset Derby, away at the Carly Press Ground, arrived with two teams bookending the table. Bridgwater came into it top of the table and back in league action after two cup victories in a row.
Wellington sat at the other end. Bottom, and still without a point, though anyone paying attention would have seen the signs of a turn. Their recent scorelines had been far more respectable than their earlier form.
There was good news on the team sheet. Shea Mannings returned to the starting eleven after suspension, and Will Collins, the club’s top goalscorer for this season, was fit enough after injury to take a place on the bench.
The last visit here, back in March, had ended goalless. To some, three points for The Robins was a forgone conclusion, but the lads still had to go out and do the business.
FIRST HALF
It could hardly have started worse. Two minutes had been played when Camillo lost the ball in midfield, and then the defence failed to clear their lines. A Wellington player punished us, curling a finish into the top corner.
For a brief period, Bridgwater never really gone going, but the home side only kept their lead for six minutes. On eight, Thorne sent a ball into the box that was headed up into the air. The goalkeeper got underneath it but could not hold it, and it dropped at the feet of Shea Mannings. He controlled it, picked his spot, and slotted home.
From there Bridgwater took over. Playing up the slope, we moved the ball into dangerous positions and entered the box countless times. On nineteen minutes we produce a goal of real quality. Camilo to Mannings, Mannings to Horton, Horton back into the path of Camilo, who had kept on running, and he drilled it into the bottom corner. A wonderful team goal, and the lead.
With the very next attack, barely a minute later, Camilo picked up the ball in midfield and released Haydan Chambers. Haydan, always full of running, did just that, charging into the box before finishing well. Two goals inside sixty seconds, and 3-1 with twenty minutes on the clock.
The rest of the half was about how many more. On thirty-five a neat one-two put Thorne into a yard of space, but the home keeper saved well down to his left. On forty, more good play saw Tom Llewellyn work the ball into the box, and Horton chested it down with the goal at his mercy, only for a Wellington defender to produce a superb diving block. Then, on the stroke of half time, Horton and Camilo combined to find Jake Llewellyn close in, and he lifted the ball over the bar when it seemed easier to score.
HALF TIME: WELLINGTON 1-3 BRIDGWATER UNITED
A goal down inside two minutes, three up by twenty. Since the early shock we had dominated and should have scored more. The game was likely out of the home side’s reach by now, but with the hill now in our favour, there was a clamour for more goals.
SECOND HALF
Whatever hope Wellington still carried lasted five minutes. On fifty, a home player challenged for a drop ball too early and was shown a second yellow card for it, an unusual way to go, and one that seemed harsh. Ten men and the slope now against them meant Bridgwater had all the time and space to play at will.
The fourth came on fifty-seven. Camilo cut in from the left and found Tom Llewellyn, who fired at goal, and a deflection took the ball past the goalkeeper and in. Four-one, and the contest, such as it was, was over. What remained was a question of numbers.
The moment the away support had been waiting for came on sixty-five, when Will Collins jogged on for his first appearance since injury. He was involved almost at once, put through on goal, and the whole away end waited for the finish. Instead, he tried to square it to Mannings, and it was intercepted by the defender.
Will redeemed himself on seventy-five. He nicked the ball away from a defender who fouled him in the process, winning a penalty, and slotting it home confidently.
The sixth came soon after, and it was a lovely one. Mannings turned his marker inside out and found Haydan Chambers in the box, and Haydan took a touch to control it before sliding the ball home for his second of the game.
Four minutes later a corner was flicked towards goal by Lawrence, and Mannings poked it home from close range for his second of the day. Seven!
Then came the closing flourish, and it belonged to Collins. In the ninetieth minute he charged down the goalkeeper, the ball looped up to Mannings, and his header crashed off the bar into the path of Collins, who smashed it home for his second. Moments later he picked the ball up from distance and found the bottom corner for his third. Twenty-five minutes on the pitch, a hat-trick, and nine goals for Bridgwater in a Somerset Derby.
FULL TIME: WELLINGTON 1-9 BRIDGWATER UNITED
Two minutes in, we were behind. Ninety minutes later, we had scored nine goals away from home in a derby, shared between five different scorers.
There is always some sympathy for the team on the wrong end of an afternoon like this, and Wellington had looked to be turning a corner. The red card took away whatever chance they had of making it a contest.
For Bridgwater, it was a great route back to league action, and a performance that had everything: the composure to recover from an early blow, team goals of the highest order, and clinical finishing from our attacking players.
Mannings marked his return from suspension with two goals and a hand in more. Chambers helped himself to two. And Will Collins marked his return from injury with a hat-trick in twenty-five minutes, which is either a remarkable thing to do or, for anyone who has watched him this season, entirely in character!
Will Collins was chosen as your Man of the Match.
Bridgwater are back at Fairfax Park on Tuesday 22nd, when Shepton Mallet come to town. They inflicted our last league defeat, and the chance to put that right has arrived quickly.
Our travelling support was magnificent, as always, thank you for your support!
#WeAreUnited
