On a sunny breezy afternoon at The Everyone Active Stadium Clevedon Town got their League campaign underway with a narrow defeat at the hands of their visitors from Bridport.

In the 6th minute the ball was played down the left to Edward Butcher whose early shot went wide.

On 10 minutes Saul Jarrett cut in from the left but could only shoot wide.

In the 18th minute Jake Llewellyn played a long ball through to Isaac Reid in the box and he turned and shot straight at Jason Hutchings in the Bridport goal.

Bridport took lead on 21 minutes. A long ball was played over the top for Edward Butcher to run onto. He managed to push the ball passed Ben Gast and cut the ball across the box for Bridport captain Mark Salter to have the simple task of tapping into an empty net to make the score 0-1.

Clevedon looked to get back into the game and in the 28th minute Isaac Reid picked the ball up on the left and ran across the edge of the box before unleashing a powerful shot that went just wide.

On 30 minutes a powerful run out of defence by Abdi Gure saw him find Joe Ellis who in turn found Isaac Reid whose shot went wide. From the resulting goal-kick the ball went all the way through to Edward Butcher whose shot was well saved by Ben Gast.

Half Time: Clevedon Town 0 Bridport 1

Clevedon were quickly out of the blocks and within 30 seconds of the restart the ball was played into Isaac Reid whose fierce shot was well saved by Jason Hutchings.

Clevedon’s persistence paid off when they equalised in the 51st minute. A strong run by Isaac Reid saw the ball played wide left to Saul Jarrett who put in a great cross to the far post where Daine O’Connor saw the ball rebound off his shin and dribble over the line with the Bridport defence wrong-footed. 1-1.

Clevedon then had a period of sustained pressure but could not produce a second goal and were ultimately made to pay when Bridport scored their second goal in the 69th minute. Bridport’s Man of the Match Edward Butcher cut in from the left and played the ball across the box for Mark Salter to have his second simple tap-in of the game to make the score 1-2.

On 80 minutes a corner from the left found Joe Ellis who headed the ball back to Daine O’Connor and his shot went well over.

Clevedon continued to push forward looking for a second equaliser but nearly conceded a third in the first minute of stoppage time when Edward Butcher was played through and tried to take the ball around Ben Gast who dived bravely at his feet to gather the ball.

Clevedon are again in League action on Wednesday 17th August when Wells City are the visitors to The Everyone Active with a 7:30 pm kick-off followed by an FA Cup Preliminary Round game on Saturday 20th August when Barnstaple Town are the visitors with a 3:00 pm kick-off.

Final Score: Clevedon Town 1 Bridport 2

Attendance: 65

Clevedon Town Line-up:

1. Ben Gast
2. Callum Kingdon
3. Jake Llewellyn
4. Joe Ellis
5. Abdi Gure
6. Kaine Gazzard
7. Saul Jarrett
8. Kevin Camargo (c)
9. Daine O’Connor – Goal on 51 minutes
10. Isaac Reid
11. Alex Parrott

12. Ben Murray
14. Liam Knight replaced Isaac Reid on 75 minutes
15. Nick Lawton
16. Toby Yeates replaced Saul Jarrett on 90 + 2 minutes
17. James Fisher replaced Alex Parrott on 75 minutes