Match Report:
Ilfracombe Town 1 Bridgwater United 1
The visitors went into the match missing the injured Jake Llewellyn with Noah Brown only fit enough for the bench and Jack Taylor unavailable. Boss Craig Laird handed debuts to new signings Dylan Tate, the 6’6” New Zealand striker from Nailsea & Tickenham and midfielder Kieran Ireland from Wellington.
On an extremely difficult pitch Bridgy struggled to exert themselves against a very useful home side who seemed to adapt to the cloying pitch better than the Robins.
The home side picked up a yellow card as early as the 7th minute for a nasty challenge on Mike Duffy. Four minutes later Liam Kingston had to be at his best to save a direct free kick then had to be alert to deal with the resulting corner.
On 15 Kingston pulled off another smart stop and Bridgy just couldn’t get going. Dylan Tate and Haydan Chambers combined on 22 minutes but the home keeper dealt with the danger. On 35 Tate looked to beat his man but slipped on the increasingly dangerous surface, it could have been nasty but he carried on after treatment.
Three minutes before the break Ireland broke forward, went down in the box but the ref waved away the appeals. Morgan Williams then picked up a sixth successive booking before Town took the lead on the stroke of half time. An angled shot cum cross from out wide eluded Kingston as it sailed over his head into the top corner.
HT 0-1 The Robins continued with the 3-5-2 formation at the start of the second half, Tate starting to look sharp forced Aplin into a smart stop. On 57 Kingston slipped on the treacherous surface but so did the home striker as penalty shouts were turned down. Ireland then picked up a yellow for a rough challenge on.
Bridgy’s first subs saw Worth and Sengor replace Duffy and Hopwood. On 66 Kingston denied Town a second with a superb double save. Koppa then replaced Ireland, and on 82 Tates effort was cleared off the line as Bridgy started to dominate. Willis was replaced by Pfupa and with two minutes to go the threatened equaliser arrived, skipper Mark Armstrong bumbling home a low cross. On 91 Bridgy should have secured all three points, Tate flicked the ball onto Worth and with just the keeper to beat shot just wide.
Bridgy went even closer two minutes later, again that man Tate creating a brilliant chance for Finn Koppa who bravely collided with the post, forcing Aplin into the save of the match. He was able to continue after treatment. Unbelievably Bridgy had a third chance in injury time, Farkins goal bound header from a corner cleared off the line! A fully deserved point which almost turned into three, we move onto St Austell at home, first match at Fairfax Park for a month
John Fournier
