6/2/16: On Saturday in absolutely atrocious wet and windy conditions at the University of Bath sports village another supremely valiant effort was rewarded with a valuable point against the high flying Buccaneers and yet Mendip came away at the end feeling like it was perhaps an opportunity missed to have stolen all three.
It was a thrilling encounter from the start with the hosts being very much the aggressors and Mendip defending their lines with a steely conviction. Buccs moved the ball around well with quick passing and movement and tried to manoeuvre the visitor’s defence out of position but the back four stuck to their task extremely well and managed to absorb most of the pressure without too much incident during the early stages. With the defence fully occupied it was down to the midfield to work their way into the game and when they finally came to life with Will Holmes stealing the ball and setting off down the right, a good counter attacking move involving the front two of John Lippiatt and Steve Smith ended by going narrowly wide of the mark to indicate that they were very much intent on being involved in the contest despite being on the back foot for long periods. The home defence was also a formidable unit and the Mendip forwards had a tough time breaking them down so the play systematically moved from one end of the pitch to the other as both sides probed for the all-important opening with Josh Sutton and Will Lawton in the centre of the Mendip midfield working hard to create something to unlock the door in the final third. As the game progressed Buccs began to wrestle control and dominate in attack and it was a totally absorbing first half with the hosts trying to press home their advantage and with Mendip simply refusing to yield. Buccs won a number of free hits in and around the D from which they were able to fire off several strong shots on target but Leigh Taylor in the Mendip goal was equal to them and made some excellent saves to make sure the status quo was maintained going into the half-time break at 0 – 0.
In the 2nd half Buccs appeared to change their formation and played even higher up the pitch and although that increased their attacking threat further it opened up the midfield and Mendip were allowed more space from which they were able to launch more meaningful attacks as their wide men started to assert themselves and become more influential going forward. Afforded some much welcomed respite the Mendip defence were keen to get involved and started to confidently move the ball across their back line to switch the play as Mendip gradually created more and more chances to get forward. However, when the moves did break down, Buccs being such a dangerous opponent they were soon knocking on the door again and with increased pressure being brought to bear, the errors started to creep in and Mendip conceded a number of short corners. Now with the match finely balanced and with Mendip under intense scrutiny the man mountain that is Leigh Taylor came to the rescue as time after time shots rained in on him from every angle and each time he pulled off magnificent reflex saves to thwart the antagonists. It was a mesmerising display of goal keeping and his heroics earned him a unanimous man-of-the match vote from every squad member and but for him the score-line may have even been double figures. That said, as long as the match remained scoreless Mendip were still very much in it and with less than a quarter left Will Lawton picked up the ball in midfield and danced his way through the opposition into the D where he unleashed a well-placed shot into the corner to put the visitors into the lead with a wonderful solo goal.
Following the goal Buccs continued to press and were unlucky when a shot struck the post but when it did finally arrive their equaliser was a rather scrappy affair as a bobbly shot from close range evaded Leigh’s pads and crept over the line. Mendip battled gamely right to the end and their herculean endeavours were nearly rewarded when a gilt edged opportunity presented itself with only a few minutes remaining but the veteran skipper was not able to claim the glory as he arrived a fraction too late and Chris Hampshire’s exquisite cross fizzed past his out stretched stick merely inches from the goal line and their last chance went begging.
On the balance of play it would obviously be churlish to say that Mendip deserved to win but they did have their fair share of chances and with such a monumental effort from the whole squad they dared to dream what might have been.
Next Saturday Mendip invite table topping Westbury & United Banks ‘A’ to Norton Hill School for a 12 o’clock start.
The squad was: Leigh Taylor, Andy Flint (Capt.), Giles Denning, James England, Max Spalton, James Lovell, Liam Young, Josh Sutton, Will Lawton, Will Holmes, Keelan Shearn, Steve Smith, John Lippiatt and Chris Hampshire.
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