PAULTON Rovers kept up the pressure at the top of the Premier Division in the Jewson Western Football League with a hard fought 2-0 away win against Oldland Abbotonians on an incredibly windy and wet evening, writes Jon Green. With Oldland sitting bottom of the table, many supporters would have thought Paulton would sail through this game. However, the hosts have come into some form of late and the conditions certainly made the game more level. Right from the off, with wind behind them, Oldland looked to put pressure on Rovers with the visitors struggling to play out while going into the wind.

The first clear chance for either team came in the 17th minute when Wayne Nderemani broke free on the left, crossing to debutant Stan Wyatt who swivelled and got a shot away. But the keeper was equal to it. Unfortunately, the in-form Nderemani was lost to injury a few minutes later although he was replaced by Under 18 player, Alistair Wach, who certainly didn’t look overawed by the occasion. The breakthrough came in the 32nd minute following a good team move by Rovers. The ball came out to Emman Athanasiou on the right who hit a low cross across the box finding Stan Wyatt to poke in from close range. Oldland rallied and with the help of the wind, put pressure back on the Rovers defence. However, the back line led by captain Jack Dancey blocked anything thrown at them and James Smallcombe was not called upon to make a serious save. Just as the half ended, the Oldland keeper rushed from his goal to intercept a pass but his clearance only found Max Williams who shot from the halfway line. The ball seemed goal bound but the wind steered the ball just wide. The second half saw Rovers now playing with the wind and it took a while for the visitors to gauge how hard to play the ball. And so, much of the play was scrappy.

With just a slender lead, Oldland could sense they could get back into the game and were certainly creating issues for Rovers. At times it was back to the wall stuff to defend the goal but Smallcombe still wasn’t unduly troubled. Chances came and went again for Stan Wyatt and Max Williams before substitute, Dan McBeam, rattled the crossbar in the 76th minute. As the missed chances piled up, there was a sense of nervousness in the Rovers supporters but any fears of a comeback by Oldland were put to bed when, in the 90th minute, Max Williams played a long ball out from the back. With the Oldland team caught out, the keeper rushed from his box but missed the ball allowing Krystian Woods time to get on the ball and pick his spot from outside the box. It had been a hard caught victory for Rovers who certainly knew they had been in a game.

This win enabled Paulton to stay in second place, a point ahead of Barnstaple Town who also won on the same night, beating Shepton Mallet 3-2 away. It was Paulton’s 19th victory of the season and enabled them to reduce the gap between them and leaders Clevedon Town to eight points, with Rovers having three crucial games in hand.