Bridgwater United maintained their unbeaten start to the league season with a 2-2 draw at home to Newquay AFC.

Trailing twice in the game, a superb goal from Will Collins and a late equaliser from Mark Armstrong helped salvage a point for the Robins.

In a game where both sides cancelled each other out, it was select moments of quality in front of goal which made the difference and gave the contest some edge.

After winning their opening two matches, Bridgwater sought to get into the game early on and made a positive start to proceedings with a plethora of chances including a looping ball from the edge of the box which dipped onto the crossbar and unsettled the Newquay backline. From that, the Robins also saw a follow up shot turned behind for a corner.

Will Collins then also carved a chance out of nothing through his hard work to win the ball high up the pitch. He charged through on goal with Sam Beresford in support, but he got his timing wrong and the chance went awry.

Despite their promising start, it was the visitors who took the lead in the tie just shy of the 20th minute mark with a direct free kick from just outside of the box. The shot flew into the back of the net, leaving goalkeeper Liam Kingston, who was wrong-footed, with little chance of getting a finger to it.

Undeterred, the Robins continued to play with the same intensity that they had begun the game with, and it soon paid off courtesy of Will Collins, scoring his fourth of the season. A brilliantly worked goal, he took a ball over the top down gracefully, taking another touch to beat the defender before unleashing a shot which fired off the post and into the back of the net.

It was a testament to how Collins conducted himself throughout the 90 minutes – putting himself amongst the Newquay defenders and acting as an outlet to the Bridgwater long balls, he used his physicality well to try and bring others into the game.

It was following the Robins equaliser that the game began to quieten down with both defences alert to snuff out any potential danger.

The visitors had a golden chance to score with 30 minutes on the clock as a shot from close range cannoned into the upright and back into the box, however, the initial effort was struck with such venom that the rebound came to another player too quickly and it blazed over the bar.

It took another moment of magic for the next goal of the afternoon as Newquay once again took the lead, making it 2-1 with a curling first time effort into the top corner.

With not long to go before half time, Bridgwater sought to get a foot back in the game, however, they found little success and went into the break trailing 2-1 to the Cornish outfit.

Coming out for the second half, the Robins were looking for a quick start and to find a way back into the game, however, they could not find it, and the game rapidly became a flat affair with neither side looking like troubling the opposition goalkeeper.

Bridgwater were struggling to get men forward, leaving Collins and Beresford isolated up top to match up against the Newquay defenders.

This was compounded just after the hour mark as Beresford was shown a yellow card for dissent and thus, sent to the sin bin for the following ten minutes after he believed the Robins should’ve had a corner when the referee awarded a goal kick.

The home side then had to see off the opposition with the man advantage for the next period of the game which they duly did, though they did not pose a threat themselves during this time and it was clear that changes were needed.

As Beresford returned to action, the Robins made three changes – Dave Thorne, Mark Armstrong and Wacko were all introduced as they looked to change their style and as a result, their fortunes.

It had an almost immediate effect as the Robins had more runners getting forward with Collins timing his run well, latching onto a cross only to see his effort tipped onto the bar by the keeper.

Minutes later, the Robins finally found an equaliser as a ball was launched into the mixer from deep, searching once again for Collins as an outlet and requiring Newquay’s keeper to act. Collins’ presence meant the ball was spilled and Mark Armstrong arrived at the perfect time to prod home and level the game at 2-2.

From then on, Bridgwater held the initiative, not happy with just a point, they went searching for a winner.

A goal did not come however, and both teams had to settle for the draw which was probably a fair reflection of the game as a whole given the lack of free-flowing action and the decisiveness of quality moments in front of goal.

Post-match, returning Vice-Chairman, Adrian Byrne commented that “2-2 was a fair result. There were times where we were hanging on but in the last 20 minutes, they were hanging on.” … “they will be pleased with that point, as we are.”

Next up for the Robins is a trip to Clevedon Town on Wednesday 5th August with the match starting at 7:30pm.

By Archie Mills