23/1/16: When Mendip faced West Wilts ‘A’ earlier in the season, there was little to choose between the two sides and following 70 minutes of an enthralling match on Saturday, once again they came away with honours even. The hosts started brightly and moved the ball around well, attacking down both flanks but the Mendip defence were alert to the dangers and kept them at bay and for the most part Leigh Taylor in goal had little work to do. That said, Mendip did ride their luck on one or two occasions and had a huge let off when a West Wilts striker missed an absolute sitter in front of goal when it was surely easier to score. With things more or less under control at the back, the midfield went about launching some attacks of their own and Will Lawton and Rich Briscoe were as effervescent as ever making numerous strong runs deep into the opposition territory and it was the home defence’s turn to be on the back foot. With both sides having their fair share of possession the game ebbed and flowed from end to end but eventually it was the visitors who made the breakthrough when mid-way through the half John Lippiatt broke free down the right and had the awareness to square a pass for his strike partner Steve Smith who picked his spot and slotted the ball beyond the keeper’s reach. Following the goal, Mendip were very much in the ascendancy and started to increasingly take the game to the opposition bringing about some smart saves from the home keeper. However, the half ended without further score with the visitors going into the break with a narrow lead. West Wilts came out in the 2nd half and definitely upped their tempo with Mendip very slow to react and for the first 5 minutes or so they had to defend resolutely as the hosts piled on the pressure but the back four stood firm and having weathered the early storm Mendip were able to get a foot hold back in the game. However, the style of play that was so successful in the first half did not seem to be working in the 2nd half. Going forward the visitors became too one dimensional, carrying the ball for far too long and all too often they were caught in possession with West Wilts turning defence into attack with apparent ease allowing their skilful midfield playmakers to take command. Despite being on the back foot for long spells the Mendip defence repelled all that was thrown at them and as luck would have it the match turned in their favour during a bizarre 2 minutes when the hosts had a goal disallowed for a perceived infringement and clearly incensed they switched off and allowed Oli Beechener to run down the right and pull back for man-of-the-match Briscoe to fire home and double the lead. Now Mendip should surely have been capable of seeing out the match and taking the valuable 3 points but they did not learn their lesson and did not adapt their play to protect their lead, simply handing the initiative back to the hosts who swarmed forward zealously in search of some justice. With the Mendip defence being asked so many questions, inevitably errors were going to creep in and having kept the opposition at arm’s length during open play the hosts finally scored from a short corner and with no more than 10 minutes remaining broke Mendip hearts with an equaliser from yet another short corner. In the dying minutes Mendip could have pinched victory back but Lippiatt was unable to turn an awkwardly bouncing ball into the goal as it squirted safely wide. West Wilts played their part in a thoroughly entertaining game and on balance of play a point was no less than they deserved.
The team was: Leigh Taylor, Andy Flint (Capt.), Giles Denning, James England, James Lovell, Will Lawton, Oli Beechener, Josh Sutton, Rich Briscoe, Liam Young, Steve Smith and John Lippiatt.
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