Portishead Town FC

Gillingham Town showed their
determination to secure the
points against close promotion
challengers Melksham Town by
pushing forward at every
opportunity, but the Wiltshire
visitors proved more than equal
to the task and defended in
depth for more than 20 minutes.

SERIOUS ATTACK

Having fended off several good
goal attempts Melksham moved
upfield on 21 minutes in their
first serious attack and fired in
from 20 yards to open the
scoring. They continued to
press and a couple of minutes
later won a corner, which was
deftly headed home to put them
two up. Just past the half hour
the home ‘keeper clipped a
Melksham front runner to give
away a penalty – but the spot
kick was fired wide. Gillingham
netted just on the stroke of halftime
but an offside flag ruled
the goal out. The second half
saw the home side enjoy the
majority of possession and on
66 minutes they reduced the
arrears following a free kick.

RESPONDED WELL

Melksham responded well to
their manager’s midweek call to
improve in defence and dug
deep to keep out a rampant
Gillingham to bank maximum
points. The home side’s misery
was compounded when a
striker was shown a red card
after receiving a second yellow.
Cadbury Heath looked the
better of the two sides as they
welcomed Chard Town and noone
was surprised when they
took the lead after 20 minutes,
heading home an accurate
cross.

BACK FOOT

Chard remained on the back
foot, and were saved by the
woodwork late in the first half.
The home side kept control
throughout and added a second
goal on 70 minutes to remain in
second spot. It was three
months since Shepton Mallet
had celebrated a home win and
Calne Town may have hoped to
have collected three points on
their travels, but the home side
had other ideas. Shepton looked
the better side from the start but
24 minutes had passed before
they opened the scoring. Just
over seven minutes later the
Somerset side doubled the score
and took the two goal lead into
the break as the Calne front
runner missed the target late in
the first half.

LEADING

Within seven minutes of the
restart Shepton were leading
three-nil and it was four-nil
following a strike on the hour.
Calne had their best spell when
they netted twice inside three
minutes but Shepton then shut
up shop to claim victory.

Bradford Town’s trip to Welton Rovers produced one of the best
matches of the day with plenty of goals and end-to-end play.
Bradford opened the scoring after just ten minutes when a well
placed cross was hammered home. On the half hour Bradford
were attempting to clear their lines when a Welton player
charged the kick down and slotted home for the equaliser. At the
start of the second half the home side took the lead from the
penalty spot but the visitors Bradford equalised soon after with a
20 yard strike. With time running out Bradford retook the lead,
hammering home through a sea of legs, and felt that they had
won the match. Welton weren’t finished however and were
awarded a free kick which was knocked into the area and finally
scrabbled home for the equaliser. Westbury United are enjoying
a resurgence and their victory over visitors Hengrove Athletic
was their third straight win in a row, the longest unbeaten run
for nearly two years. Chances came and went at both ends before
the visitor’s ‘keeper conceded a penalty on seven minutes, which
was deftly netted. Within five minutes Hengrove had levelled
the scores but Westbury went back in front three minutes before
the half time whistle. The second half produced some more good
play by the home side but there were no more goals for the
Wiltshire side. In the closing minutes Hengrove pushed more
men forward but failed to find a way back into the match.

EQUAL GAMES

Roman Glass St George met Portishead Town, with the sides just
three points apart on equal games, but looked far from a match
for their visitors. Within ten minutes Portishead were in the lead,
thanks to a header following a free kick, the scorer heading the
second goal midway through the first half. Just before the
interval the visitors hit goal number three to put them firmly in
the driving seat. The half time chat seemed to work for Roman
Glass as they enjoyed much more of play in the second period
but neither ‘keeper had much to do, and there was no further
score. Almondsbury UWE were the visitors at Devizes Town but
found the basement club more of a challenge than their league
position suggested. There was little to choose between the sides
and with time running out in the first half Devizes slotted home
from a narrow angle to take the lead. In the second period
Almondsbury pushed forward looking for the equaliser but the
Devizes defence was well marshalled and held on for three
crucial points.

Courtesy of http://www.toolstationleague.com