13/12/14: Having the Mendip Christmas party the night before a league match might not be ideal preparation but a 3.30pm start time gave ample time to gather the troops to set off and face bottom of the table Westbury & UB ‘C’ to record our most comprehensive victory so far this season and keep a second consecutive clean sheet with 6 unanswered goals.
Westbury went on the offensive straight from the start and moved the ball around with pace and precision, probing for an opening. However, the teams were evenly matched during the opening quarter and possession was turned over several times as both sides sought to gain the upper hand.
Westbury had one or two dangerous players that were allowed to run at the defence but the Mendip back line have been absolutely rock solid all season and again saw off the majority of the attacks, limiting the hosts to only a handful of half chances. That gave Mendip the platform and confidence to go on the offensive themselves and they were soon wreaking havoc in and around the opposition D, winning a number of short corners.
From one such set piece, three quick passes found Rich Briscoe in space to flick into the corner for the opening score.
Rich is rapidly returning to full fitness again after serious knee injuries and was clearly relishing the opportunity to run amok and when he picked up the ball in midfield he set off down the left leaving a trail of defenders in his wake. When he reached the base line he simply squared the ball to Liam Young who was well placed to tap in for a well worked goal.
With the cavalier qualities of Josh Sutton and Rich Briscoe in the side it is just as well that Mendip have the dependable Andy Wood and Paul Floyd to weigh anchor in the middle of the park and steady the ship against any counter attacks and time after time both were on hand to break down the play and snuff out a potentially dangerous situation.
Mendip continued to press forward and rounded off an excellent first half display with a 3rd goal from a short corner when Oli Beechener fired in from the top of the D.
The second half opened up as the hosts did not lose heart and put up some resistance and tried to put Mendip on the back foot. However, the irrepressible Briscoe picked up the ball deep in his own half, running straight to the heart of the Westbury defence, weaving through players with ease and once again Liam benefitted as he was set up to score his 2nd and Mendip’s 4th to effectively kill off the game.
With the match pretty much won Mendip tightened their grip and applied relentless pressure on the already faltering defence and were awarded a Penalty Stroke for a foot on the line. Paul Floyd stepped up to rifle the ball high into the roof of the net for a fitting end to his final match in Mendip colours.
There was still time for the ubiquitous Briscoe to set off on another of his solo runs and this time square for Steve Smith to shoot home from the top of the D for a final score of 6 – 0.
Now although this was undoubtedly the Rich Briscoe show, scoring one and setting up 3 of the others, his exuberant performance was merely a cameo in what was essentially the farewell testimonial match for the likeable Paul Floyd who is leaving the club for pastures new.
During the 3 years that he has played for Mendip he has always given nothing less than 100% and his versatility to play in a number of positions has been an asset to the club.
We all wish him well in his new job in Cornwall and hope he has a successful 2015.
The Team was: Leigh Taylor, Andy Flint, Giles Denning, Tim West, Toby Green, Oli Beechener, Paul Floyd, Andy Wood, Josh Sutton, Rich Briscoe, Liam Young and Steve Smith.
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