30/1/16: In this vitally important match Mendip took the game to Yate from the first whistle and were very comfortable in possession during the opening exchanges as they worked the ball down the wings with Liam Young & Oli Beechener exploiting the space to put the visitors on the back foot. With the hosts controlling things & with a quarter of the match gone Mendip looked to be in no danger whatsoever of conceding and up to that point had dealt with the visitors threat very well indeed until a move broke down in midfield & a swift passing foray cut open the home defence & they found themselves a goal down against the run of play. Mendip continued to play in the same vein & immediately went on the attack to win a flurry of short corners & from one of the set pieces Oli drag flicked into the net to equalise. With parity restored & with Rich Briscoe the driving force in the centre of midfield Mendip regained their rhythm & saw out the remainder of the half to go into the break level at 1-1. Now Mendip came out reasonably content with their first 35 minutes work with the back four playing well enough but within the opening phase of the 2nd half and without any forewarning the team conceded two quick goals to fall behind. The first was another quick passing move & the defence switched off to allow a man in at the back post to deflect home. Then minutes later a fierce shot from a short corner was going safely wide until the hapless James Lovell changed the trajectory to rifle into his own goal past a helpless keeper. With the bit between their teeth Yate took full advantage of Mendip’s misfortune & were well drilled to score a 4th and put clear daylight between the teams. Mendip were obviously left reeling & totally bemused as to how they had capitulated but they dug deep and rallied to regain some sort of control & when John Lippiatt prodded home the fight back looked on. Mendip certainly had a good argument for a penalty stroke when Steve Smith was tripped in the D but with only a short corner awarded they could not capitalise on the chance. Mendip fought bravely right to the end but had given themselves too much to do so when man-of-the-match Briscoe coolly picked his spot just as the final whistle went it was no more than a consolation goal in a disappointing 3-4 defeat.
The Team was: Leigh Taylor, Andy Flint (Capt.), Giles Denning, James England, James Lovell, Toby Green, Rich Briscoe, Josh Sutton, Will Lawton, Oli Beechener, Liam Young, Steve Smith & John Lippiatt.
Thanks to Paul Woolway and Andy Baird for umpiring.
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