A trip to Cornwall brought together two of the teams at the top end of the table. Bridgwater occupied first place and were looking for a third league win in a row. St Blazey sat fourth, and were the league’s only unbeaten side at the time of writing.
Blaise Park set the scene for what promised to be a competitive match. Dave Pearse named a familiar lineup, the only change being Jason Quick starting in place of Jake Llewellyn.
FIRST HALF
The game started frantically, with both teams looking direct and neither shirking a tackle.
Our clean sheet survived for only eight minutes. Liam Kingston rolled the ball out to Toby Lawrence in a central position, and perhaps one the defender did not really want it in. The home striker closed him down instantly, nicked the ball, and slotted home well to give the Cornish side the lead.
From there the play was relatively even, with neither team able to sustain possession or pressure for long.
Our first real chance came on twenty minutes. A free kick in from Tom Llewellyn was met by Jacob Spence, but his header trickled wide.
On the half hour mark St Blazey, who were often looking to counter, did so. They broke down the right, and for a moment it looked as though a ball across would surely result in a goal. The winger sat on it just a fraction too long, though, and allowed Lawrence to recover and block.
Bridgwater had not started at their fluent best, but were beginning to grow into the game and gain territory. Mannings sent a powerful shot wide, and moments later brought Collins into play. Will attempted to curl one into the top corner, but back off the crossbar it came.
Only a minute later it was the home side attacking again. Kingston came out of his box to challenge but, realising he would not get there, retreated. The home player was caught in two minds, squared it too late, and allowed us to recover and clear our lines.
Just before half time, our day got worse. Lloyd Mills, who had come on for the injured Mark Armstrong only ten minutes earlier, received a second yellow card for pulling back an opponent on the counter. He was sent on his way, and the task of coming home with something from this game had become a great deal harder.
HALF TIME: ST BLAZEY 1-0 BRIDGWATER UNITED
As has become a theme of our season, Bridgwater had gone a goal down early. It was an avoidable mistake, and one the defence as a collective would not want to see again.
We had not been at our best, but we had got our strikers into space and created a few chances. An improvement was certainly needed to take anything from the game, and it would not be easy with a man fewer.
SECOND HALF
For the first fifteen minutes of the second half it was a very tight game. St Blazey had dropped a yard deeper, but Bridgwater were still struggling to impose themselves with the player deficit.
On the hour mark we had a huge chance to equalise. A ball over the top was latched onto by Mannings, who rounded the keeper. He took the ball wide and was forced to turn back. Collins was screaming for it on the edge of the box, but Mannings kept it, danced through a few tackles, and saw his shot blocked on the line.
From that moment on, Bridgwater quite suddenly started to improve. They pushed forward, looking long for Mannings and Collins, and if any team was going to score, it was going to be us.
Collins screwed a free kick wide from close range, and King shot over from the edge of the box.
With ten minutes to go, we got what the half deserved. Tom Llewellyn crossed in from a deep free kick and Toby Lawrence rose highest to head it. It looped up, the keeper spilled the catch, and Beresford was quickest off the mark, poking it home for the equaliser.
Despite being a man down, Bridgwater smelled blood and pushed for an unlikely win.
In the dying moments of the game, we thought we had it. Collins latched onto the ball and burst through tackles to find himself in on goal. He made no mistake, firing home and sending the away fans into raptures.
The celebrations lasted a while, and only afterwards did the referee begin conversing with the linesman. The goal was disallowed for a supposed handball by Will as he broke through. It looked harsh, and it was still being debated long after the final whistle.
FULL TIME: ST BLAZEY 1-1 BRIDGWATER UNITED
Having been both a goal and a man down, it seemed strange to feel disappointed by a draw. But disappointed we were, having looked for all the world like we had won it so late in the day.
It was a chaotic game, full of incident: big tackles, goals, red cards, handbags, the lot.
We improved greatly in the second half and looked the more likely side to take all three points.
Dave Pearse praised the team for their spirit, coming back into the game after two first-half setbacks and looking the more likely winners by the end.
Top fan Les, whilst on the coach home, said “We played the better game in the second half and deserved to win. We had more chances.” Cheers Les.
Tom Llewellyn was chosen as your Man of the Match.
We have no midweek game, and return to Cornwall next Saturday against Newquay.
A big thank you to those who came to support us.
#WeAreUnited
