In this afternoon’s derby at Clevedon Town, a second-half penalty was the deciding factor in a 1-0 defeat for Scott Bartlett’s men.
Clear-cut chances were few and far between for both sides, with Nick McCootie dragging wide an attempt on his left foot from 18 yards. Jacob Jagger-Cane had a one-on-one pushed away by Clevedon keeper Harley Wilkinson after being played in by Dayle Grubb, while McCootie headed over a looping Matt Jones cross from six yards. Grubb had the last action of the first half as he curled a free-kick over the bar.
In the second half, Keiran Thomas had a shot tipped over the bar by Wilkinson after Mike Symons had fed a pass into him before Symons had a goal disallowed for offside from the corner after Greg Tindle had retrieved the ball and crossed low into the six-yard box. Symons then went close again but his downward header from a Matt Jones cross was held by Wilkinson.
Matt Jones had an opportunity of his own but dragged wide from outside the area, and Purnell sprung into action for the first time midway through the half to push away a powerful Archie Ferris header.
Clevedon took the lead with 20 minutes to go, Morgan Davies being brought down inside the box after a teasing run. Mitch Osmond stepped up to the spot, his penalty being momentarily stopped by Purnell’s feet however the ball trickled over the line unfortunately for Weston.
After the flurry of changes with 15 minutes left to go, Weston picked up the tempo, Jack Goodall having a stinging shot blocked by Sam Iles as the game drew to a close.
FT: Clevedon 1-0 Weston (Osmond pen 70)
Weston XI: Purnell, Thomas (Goodall 76), M.Jones (B.Jones 76), Laird (Eastwood 76), Avery (Parsons 76), Tindle (C) (Noble 76), McCootie (Harvey 76), Jagger-Cane (Hendy 76), Symons (Griffith 76), Grubb (Kempster 76), Knowles (R.Jones 76).
MOTM: Jacob Jagger-Cane