Game 14: Bridport 0.6 Clevedon Town (FA Cup) 28.08.10

For today's FA Cup match I decided to head down to the Dorset coast to watch the Western League's Bridport take on Southern League opponents Clevedon Town. I had factored in some time for bank holiday traffic but started to wonder if it was enough when I hit long traffic tailbacks around the site of the Dorset Steam Fair. Although the event doesn't start until next weekend, I hadn't realised that the vendors and exhibitors were allowed on site from today.

As I drove past by back up destination of Dorchester's ground, I decided to keep on going and hope for the best. Despite the best efforts of tractors, horse boxes and caravans I managed to park up outside Bridport's ground at 2.55pm and made it in time to pick up the last programme as the teams were coming out onto the pitch.

Bridport have had an excellent start to the league season with four wins in four matches. Clevedon have recorded a draw and two defeats in their league but the two league gap between the teams became apparent early on.

It took two minutes for them to test the Bridport keeper with a long range shot that was well saved. After six minutes a similar shot beat the keeper, bounced off the right hand post and trickled along the goal line which allowed a defender to race back and clear the ball.

Clevedon were dominating possession and most of the play was at the far end. In the 10th minute the Bridport keeper had to be alert to get contact on another shot and his acrobatic dive did just enough to keep the ball out.

Bridport had a brief reprieve in the 14th minute when the referee awarded them a free kick in the Clevedon half. They decided to take a direct shot on goal but the ball was blasted wide of the post.

Clevedon were moving the ball around the pitch well and making space to get behind the Bridport defence. In the 23rd minute the Bridport keeper came out quickly and made a great one on one stop by getting in the way of the ball and then pushing it away from goal towards a team mate.

Bridport managed a rare attack in the 25th minute. A good passing move split the Clevedon defence and put the left back through on the far side of the penalty area. With the acute angle it looked like a cross would come over but the supporting players were disappointed to see a shot whistle well wide of the post and into the wall behind the goal.

The Bridport keeper ran out of luck in the 27th minute. A ball to the far side of the area found an unmarked Clevedon player. He looked to take a quick shot but he miscontrolled the ball. As it bounced down he took control of it and moved toward goal.

The keeper had no choice but to cover his near post but as he moved across the Clevedon player squared the ball to a team mate in the centre. As the keeper ran across towards the covering defenders on the goalline the ball was hit low into the gap and in.

In the 33rd minute the Bridport keeper was down quickly to save a point blank shot as his teammates appealed in vain for an offside flag. Clevedon scored a second goal two minutes later from another defensive mistake. A straight forward clearance was missed and as the ball bounced up it fell to a Clevedon striker to blast in from close range.

Clevedon wrapped up the half with another goal in the 43rd minute thanks to an error of judgement by the Bridport keeper. He missed a backpass which allowed a Clevedon player to take the ball round him and smash it into the net. Just on halftime Bridport had their best opportunity of the match. The ball was whipped in from the right and headed on target but straight at the Clevedon keeper.

The second half was a similar story as Clevedon dominated possession and chances. They realised that long balls into the channel were catching out the defence and used them to great effect. In the 64th minute the post came to Bridport's rescue when a shot from outside the box hit it and deflected towards the goalline. The Bridport keeper turned and quickly grabbed it before the whole of the ball crossed the line.

The long ball over the top worked again in the 67th minute to give Clevedon a 4.0 lead. This time the shot was well struck and beat the keeper's dive to land in the net. A similar shot just after that was only kept out by the Bridport keeper's fingertips.

Clevedon were awarded a penalty in the 74th minute after a high,late challenge from the Bridport captain sent one of their players tumbling. When he realised that the referee had given a penalty he booted the ball low and hard off the pitch and almost hit a group of children behind the goal. He was lucky that the referee only gave him a yellow card following this childish tantrum.

The responsibilty for the penalty fell to one of the Clevedon substitutes who had only been on the pitch for a few minutes. He put his shot low on target but the goalkeeper guessed the right way and saved the attempt.

A minute after his penalty miss, the Clevedon substitute must have been cursing the Bridport keeper as his goalbound header bounced off the turf and up into the keeper's outstretched fingers. The ball was tipped towards a group of Bridport players who cleared the ball away.

With ten minutes to go a Clevedon player somehow managed to miss the goal from close range. The ball was headed past the keeper to the left hand post where the Clevedon player just had to put it past the covering defender. The defender went low and put his body on the line only to see the ball go sailing over the crossbar as the striker got his angles wrong.

I began to wonder if Clevedon would add to their total but they were given an assist by another Bridport defensive howler. After a dribble down the right by Clevedon, a defender managed to get himself between the Clevedon player and the ball in front of goal. He brought the ball under control but in doing so it came closer to the goalmouth. The keeper came out to try and help out but left his legs open, allowing the Clevedon player to toepoke the ball from between the defender's legs and through the keeper's legs. Both Bridport players tried to stop the ball but only succeeded in bringing each other down as the ball rolled into the net.

The match was wrapped up in the 88th minute when Clevedon scored their sixth goal. Another of their subs took the ball round his man and put a shot over the keeper, off the post and in.