28/2/15: Last Saturday, the Mendip Men’s 2nds travelled to Failand, Bristol, for a mid-table clash against Firebrands D. Following the defeat during the week previous, the 2nds were determined to get things back on track and to continue their pressure on the now fourth-placed South Gloucestershire A, who were only one point ahead. However, Firebrands had a very experienced side out and to get the better of this team would be no mean feat.
The game started brightly for Mendip, who looked lively and full of pace, right from the off. With Will Holmes and Mike Bristowe staying wide in the midfield, it stretched Firebrands, leaving extra space in the middle for Toby Green and Keelan Shearn. As a result, this helped the midfield to then support the two frontmen, James England and Chris Hampshire.
Eventually, this extra space led to the opening goal for Mendip, when James England fired home to give the away side a deserved lead. Firebrands did fight back after this point, with some dangerous crosses coming across the D and Barry Sewell making a few smart saves. But, the Mendip defence held firm, allowing the midfield to counter-attack with pace. This led to Mendip’s second goal, as Chris Hampshire burst along the right wing, sending a dangerous ball into the D across goal. James England managed to get a touch which took the ball away from a defender, leaving Mike Bristowe, who was running to the far post, to get ahead of his marker and sweep the ball towards goal. Fortunately for Mike, the ball bounced off of the defender’s stick and looped over the goalkeeper into the goal, leaving him to claim his first ever competitive goal.
Mendip were ‘flying’ at this point and before half-time were able to extend their lead to three, with Chris Hampshire getting a taste of the action after a delightful one-two with Will Holmes. The half-time whistle went shortly after this, leaving the away side with a comfortable 0-3 lead.
Firebrands started the second-half much stronger and looked to decrease the deficit early on. Despite the extra pressure though, Mendip’s strong defence of Andy Baird, Max Spalton and Karl Birk kept things tight at the back for the first 10 minutes. However, disappointingly the ‘flood gates’ then opened with Firebrands scoring one, two and then three goals in relatively quick succession. Within 15 minutes, Mendip had sacrificed a 0-3 lead and this left them with 10 minutes to save the game.
It would have been easy for Mendip heads to go down, but this wasn’t the case as the team came back fighting. Chris Hampshire restored the lead for the ‘yellows’ when he fired a cheeky reverse stick shot which caught the Firebrands keeper off guard. For a reverse shot, it was taken from a rather ‘upright’ position and in the post-match discussions could only be described as ‘Old School’ and drew similarities to that of the famous cricketer, W. G. Grace!
With Mendip ahead again, the away team’s passing improved. This led to one more goal and after a scramble in the D, the ball dropped to James, who delightfully fired into the top corner of the goal, out of reach of the goalkeeper.
This left the full time score at 3-5 and Mendip three-points better off in the league. The team remain 5th as South Glos. A won their match, but with three games to go, it’s still all to play for.
The Team: Barry Sewell, Andy Baird (capt.), Max Spalton, Karl Birk, Toby Green, Keelan Shearn, Mike Bristowe, Will Holmes, James England, Chris Hampshire.
Mike Bristowe
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