Mendip looked resplendent as they took to the field to face top of the table Westbury, proudly bearing the name of their new sponsor, local business, CassidyGregory Electrical Contractors Ltd. and as if spurred on to pay merit to their benefactor, they put in one of the performances of the season so far that discredited their lowly league position.
Mendip were under no illusions that it would be a tough afternoon’s work, as the visitors started to spray the ball around with pace and accuracy, but they maintained their shape and discipline to defend as a cohesive unit and keep the attackers at arm’s length, with the back four making some timely tackles. Despite having to defend in numbers, there was a confidence to Mendip’s play and when in possession, they eased their way into the game, interchanging passes in the midfield and using the wide men to stretch the opposition. They worked hard to close down and hassle and mid-way through the half, Will Holmes stole the ball and set off down the right, crossing into the D where John Lippiatt was on hand to out muscle the keeper and slot home.
Following the goal, Westbury stepped up the tempo and went all out. Mendip spent most of the remainder of the half pinned back, relying on the counter attack to release the pressure, which they did very well using Liam Young’s devastating speed. The hosts were well drilled, defending short corners, adequately dealing with the set pieces to clear their lines and looked to be going into the break a goal up when Westbury brought on their ‘special teams’ for their next short corner and a drag flick levelled the scores with only two minutes left on the clock.
Shortly after the break, Westbury won another short corner and went ahead, using the drag flick to good effect for a second time but Mendip did not lie down and took the game to the opposition with Man of the Match, Josh Sutton, driving forward in attack and working hard to break up the play in defence. The game flowed from end to end at a frenetic pace and Mendip deservedly equalised when Lippiatt bagged his brace, finishing off a good passing move.
There was no time to congratulate themselves though, as Westbury’s skilful midfield continued to run at the heart of the Mendip defence and an uncharacteristic mix-up led to the visitors going ahead again when an alert forward reacted quicker in the D to pounce on a loose ball and score from close range. Mendip showed great character and a positive attitude to keep going and with excellent approach play were able to exploit Westbury’s defensive frailties for a third time to draw level at 3–3 when Josh popped up in the D and showed good strength and determination to bundle the ball over the line.
However, with the game drawing towards its conclusion, there was still time for one final twist, as Mendip were unfortunately not able to hold on for a hard
fought point and Westbury ultimately won the match, albeit with a rather scrappy goal following a goal mouth scramble to leave the hosts feeling decidedly hard done by that yet another sterling performance had gone unrewarded.
Team: Leigh Taylor, Andy Flint (Captain), Toby Green, Giles Denning, James England, James Lovell, Liam Young, Josh Sutton, Will Lawton, Will Holmes, Steve Smith and John Lippiatt. Thanks to Carol Holmes and Paul Woolway for umpiring.