Keynsham Town 0 Bridgwater United 3

Composed, controlled, confident, commanding, decisive , determined, energetic, intelligent, quick,  secure, tenacious and , not surprisingly, victorious. These are only some of the adjectives that could fairly describe a first class win against a  Keynsham side who must have approached this game with the confidence that comes from four successive wins. However they weren’t given even a sniff of a chance in what was a tremendous all-round performance. This victory was the tenth away from home in the league, more than anybody else. If the home form was as strong the Robins would be clear at the top of the table.

Keynsham would have pulled to within a single point of United’s tally had they won but there weren’t allowed to get into their stride. The two main attacking threats, free scoring Will Hailston and Dan Cottle, were largely reduced to ineffectiveness by the steely work performed by the defence but also because the midfield as a whole worked like trojans to deny space and gain possession. Up front United always looked dangerous and the late goals in the second half added a deserved gloss to the overall display.

Keynsham play on an artificial surface which could present them with an advantage against sides unfamiliar with the surface. All that this did was to allow United’s players to pass the ball around with freedom and pace and create lots of scoring opportunities. The capricious wind did try to muck things up a bit but, by the end, United had even mastered that.

Over the course of the ninety minutes there was only one moment when Keynsham looked like scoring. With the score at 0-1, Hailston chipped the ball over United’s defence to Cottle. He was on his own and no more than 10 metres out. He miscued his shot wide of the left post. Another couple of efforts from further out missed the goal with something to spare and Jake Viney could spend most of his time admiring what his team mates were doing in front of him.

The first goal , after 13 minutes, was excellent. The superb Ross Edwards ran at pace from his own half straight through the middle before passing to his right. He had spotted the run of Jack Taylor. The pass was so accurate that Taylor didn’t have to break stride or take a touch and he drove a low shot with clinical precision across Seth Locke and inside the left post.

Another run at the back-pedalling defence, this time by the ever developing Harry Durant, led to him trying a shot. It was deflected beyond the right post. George King collected the ball and lifted it back into a central spot. Sam Crumb, who did well with his holding up of the ball, lifted the ball over the bar from a good position.

The one way traffic continued. From a Tom Llewellyn corner kick a volley by Edwards rattled the outside of a post. On the stroke of half time it was Edwards again causing trouble in the Keynsham penalty box. He met another Tom Llewellyn corner kick with his head this time and Locke did very well to smother the ball on the goal line.

In the early part of the second half United looked to be getting a bit carried away with the idea of shooting from long range, with the wind now firmly behind them. So a couple of efforts billowed way too high but they soon changed their range. Mike Duffy was bothering whoever was given the task of marking him on the right wing and he came inside a bit and drilled a low shot which was blocked. George King then won possession, ran forwards and unleashed a firm left footed drive which was maybe a foot too high.

Keynsham were playing with an increased amount of zip in the second half but found penetrating the United defence almost impossible. It was in this period that Cottle missed his opening and Hailston drove too high.

There was a flurry of substitutes and these changes appeared to help the visitors the most. After 78 minutes,the brilliant Tom Llewellyn tried his luck from 20 yards and the shot was pushed out and to the right of the goal. From this unpromising angle substitute Adnan Hiroli struck the ball first time and it seemed to enter the net between Locke and the near post. There was some fuss about this because defender George Rooke was lying down on the pitch with an injury. Keynsham seemed to think that United should have kicked the ball off the pitch, so he could get treatment,  and it could be said that his temporary incapacity played a part in the goal. However, Keynsham had the chance to kick the ball off the pitch too but didn’t.

Morgan Williams shot wide of a gaping target after sub Nick Woodrow beat Locke to the ball but in the 93^rd minute Taylor made the win complete. His fierce shot ,from the edge of the box, may have taken a slight deflection which lifted it above the keeper.

Match details:

Match: Keynsham Town v  Bridgwater United

Competition: Toolstation Western League

Date: March 5^th 2022

Venue: AJN Stadium

Attendance: 172

Keynsham Town :

Seth Locke, George Rooke, Jordan Anstey, Scott Gregory, Mike Grist, Jack Dancey, Matt Brown, Rhymel Henderson, Will Hailston, Callum Baker, Dan Cottle.

Substitutes: Jamie Noble, Matt Long, Abdou M’Baye, Jamie Price.

Bridgwater United:

Jake Viney, Mark Armstrong, Harry Durant, Ross Edwards, Jacob Spence, Morgan Williams, Mike Duffy ( Adnan Hiroli 73), George King ( Jake Llewellyn 79), Jack Taylor, Sam Crumb ( Nick Woodrow 66), Tom Llewellyn.

Unused substitutes: Mike Murphy, Cameron Gauci.

Match officials : Referee Simon Larraway

Assistants: Chris Martin and Adam Boubrahmi.

Who’s next? United travel to Saltash on Wednesday 9th March, 3pm.