Telephones 1 Cherries 2

A trip to a chilly South Bristol was today’s setting as we were welcomed to our first encounter with Bristol Telephones. With the home side having not played since Boxing Day the Cherries had the advantage of having played twice in the past week.

Just 13 minutes had passed when the ball bounced back off the home crossbar and captain Nick Hewlett was on hand to poke the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring. Sturminster had much the better of the half and went in at the interval with just that one goal separating the two teams.

The second half started in much the same way as the first had ended, but Telephones edged forward into the game and were soon putting pressure on the reds’ defence. This eventually paid off and just before the hour their pressure paid off as they equalised. The home side grew stronger but were unable to add to their score and eventually Stur took more control over play but a 1-1 draw looked inevitable. Then at 90 minutes suddenly the ball broke to Owen Peart who turned and drilled the ball past the home keeper with his wrong foot to give Sturminster a 2-1 lead. Sturminster managed the last few minutes of added time and came away with all three points.

A well competed game from both sides, and we would expect some good results from this Bristol side over the coming weeks. The return fixture is on February 1st when we can look forward to another tough encounter.

Today’s man of the match was skipper Nick Hewlett.

Next up on Saturday is a home fixture against Hallen.