Leaders score late on to deny Blazey victory

TOP of the table Bridgwater United scored a late equaliser to deny St Blazey all three points in a topsy-turvy game at Blaise Park.

The home side opened the scoring in the eighth minute when a loose pass from Toby Lawrence got intercepted by midfielder Tallan Mitchell who ran through one on one to slot home.

The away side were down to 10 men just before half-time after Lloyd Mills received two quick yellow cards having come on earlier to replace the injured Mark Armstrong.

It was a very tight game throughout but with eight minutes remaining, the visitors equalised after a free kick was eventually bundled over the line by Sam Beresford.

Bridgwater thought they had secured the winner in the dying embers before the linesman let the referee know that he had spotted a handball in the build up.

St Blazey boss Dan Hart said: “It was a pretty crazy game. We started very well and went in with a game plan to try and stifle them when they had the ball. We wanted to try and get after them nice and high up the pitch and be aggressive. We scored after seven minutes from winning the ball up high.

“In the first half, whilst we should have scored more goals, we broke on them so well. Bridgwater went down to 10 men just before half-time and for me that weirdly changed the dynamic of the game in their favour. They were still a threat as they’ve got really good attacking players and we knew we would need to improve throughout the game to keep them at bay.

“I felt that we started the second half really well again, we looked fresh and energetic for the first ten minutes. We felt like perhaps it was a game that we could put to bed. We did miss a couple of chances during a 10 minute spell, but we looked like we were going to make the most of the numerical advantage.

“However, Bridgwater had some real good substitutes to bring into the game and that changed the momentum further, and the more we went into the game without putting it to bed, it was giving them increased confidence considering the run they have had in the league.

“We gave away too many set plays in our own third, as well as too many cheap free-kicks and there goal came from one of them. It was really disappointed to concede the goal and to go level after being in a winning position.

“At the end of the day, we should give credit to Bridgwater for the way they responded after going down to 10 men, and as a team, we need to continue to learn our lessons as we grow as a group.

“We must also take the positives that we’ve played against one of the league’s top teams and made them look very average in the first period. We attacked with such quality and it was a shame that we couldn’t go two or three goals ahead like we did against Clevedon recently.

“If we had done, I think we could of runaway with the game or certainly been able to control it more comfortably.”

St Blazey, who sit fourth in the league table, visit bottom-side Wellington this Saturday at 3pm.