Bridgwater Town 1 Paulton Rovers 3

Paulton Rovers progressed to the Second Round of the Southern League Challenge Cup with a deserved 3–1 win over local rivals, Bridgwater Town, at Fairfax Park on Tuesday night.

The visitors opened the scoring on sixteen minutes, when skipper, Ryan Shaw, played a ball inside full back, Tyne Govier and with keeper, Dan Jackson, racing from his line, indecision allowed Kailan Gould to block the attempted clearance, leaving the young Rovers’ striker with the easiest of finishes.

The lead was doubled right on half-time with an excellent passing move that saw Will Hailston find Gould, whose pass inside the defender saw Nathan Legge fire home a right-footed drive from just inside the area.

After both sides had missed chances from the restart, the hosts reduced the arrears on 56 minutes with a scrambled corner from the right and although keeper, Ed Baldy, got a hand to it, he couldn’t keep out Jake Horsey’s final touch.

The hosts pressed for an equaliser, but it was Rovers who completed the scoring on 65 minutes as Hailston found Legge in the left channel and his shot was touched home by substitute, Elliott Gibbons.

Report by Andy Harris