Somerset County Premier
Watchet Town 3, Bridgwater Town Res 1

A MUCH-IMPROVED second-half showing earned Watchet victory at the Memorial Ground last Saturday as they completed the double over Bridgwater Town Reserves.

After being pegged back to 1-1 at the interval, the Red & Blacks finished off two quality moves which turned the tide in their favour.

With Watchet making another slow start it was the youthful Bridgwater outfit - well spearheaded by the experienced Young - who looked the more likely scorers in the early exchanges.

Adam Bishop had already made one smart stop before having to dive full length to his right to push away Young’s effort.

Sellick shot wide from a good position before Watchet finally settled down to pose a threat from their own setpieces.

A long throw from John Harris which was flicked on by Jamie Milton caused havoc in the visitors’ six-yard box, but Charley Clausen and Aaron Deeks were just unable to force the ball home.

Then, both Milton and Harris sent free far post headers from Deeks’ corners off-target.

The left wing corner was to pay dividends, however, when Watchet took the lead as another flag kick from Deeks was touched on at the near post and Milton instinctively stuck out a boot to turn the ball inside the far upright.

A period of Watchet seemingly in control was then interrupted when, out of the blue, Bridgwater were awarded a disputed penalty and Duffy levelled the scores from the ensuing spotkick.

The home side went close to regaining the lead before the break when a sweeping move led to Tom Sparks firing in a shot which demanded a decent save from the keeper.

Watchet presented a more solid unit all-round after half-time and, as well as tightening up at the back, they took control of midfield to launch some probing raids.

Ryan Strong instigated a passing move which began near halfway and involved Chris Sully, Deeks and Mike Bailey before the latter squared a low ball into the goalmouth which reached Sparks at the far post and he made no mistake.

Not long afterwards, Watchet’s passing and movement again ripped open the heart of the Bridgwater defence and ended with Deeks this time supplying Sparks, who kept his feet as he evaded the oncoming keeper to set up Bailey to mark a promising full debut with a clinical finish which made it 3-1.

Watchet: A Bishop, R Strong, M Heywood, J Milton, J Harris, M Bailey, C Sully, C Clausen, A Clausen, A Deeks, T Sparks. Subs: B Robinson, I Lowe & C Knight (used), T Maddock (unused).