7.02.15: In the first part of a double header this weekend, 11 men Mendip travelled to face Old Bristolians and things got off to a well enough start as early pressure forced a couple of short corners.
The 1st brought about a smart save from a Steve Smith ‘drag flick’ that was heading for the top corner but the 2nd reaped its reward as Giles Denning coolly picked his spot and drilled a powerful shot into the corner to open the scoring.
Intelligent running by the front 3 of Steve, John Lippiatt and Liam Young pulled the defence in all directions and going forward Mendip always threatened to create chances so when Liam turned provider and guided a nicely weighted through ball down the centre, Oli Beechener broke from midfield and as the keeper committed himself, calmly lifted the ball over his prostrate body to put Mendip 2 up.
Mendip were then perhaps guilty of becoming a little complacent and OBs immediately lifted their game, going at the visitors with strong running and determined play and Mendip started to wobble, unable to deal with the pace and power of the attacks, giving away 2 short corners in quick succession. OBs set piece routine was well rehearsed and despite the best efforts of the Mendip defence the hosts levelled the match, converting both with aplomb.
Mendip did not panic and having had the wake up call they needed quickly got back into their passing game. They moved the ball across their back line, keeping possession; patiently waiting for the opportunity to surge forward and when it arrived the 3rd goal was simplicity itself as 3 or 4 slick passes sliced through the OBs back line and Steve arrived in the D to slot home and take Mendip into the break 3 – 2 ahead.
Mendip clearly had not learned their lesson and allowed the hosts to come out in the 2nd half and dominate the opening period. Leigh Taylor was busy in the Mendip goal but he stood firm and kept the slender lead intact. However, with the bit well and truly between their teeth OBs were becoming harder to suppress and Mendip were made to work extremely hard to regain a foot hold in the match.
Oli, Josh Sutton and Will Lawton gradually wrestled a semblance of control in midfield and they started taking the game back to OBs with good individual skills. The play switched from end to end and the tempo was frenetic with neither side giving an inch.
Unfortunately, midway through the half, Liam took a knock to the ankle and limped off for some temporary respite. Whilst he was off the field OBs took full advantage and swarmed forward, finding an unmarked forward in the D who finished well to level the score. This fuelled their self-belief and it took all of Mendip’s resolve to stem the tide but with the experienced Giles Denning orchestrating things from the back and Steve dropping deeper to bolster the midfield the visitors were still very much in the mix and went about redressing the balance.
With Liam rejoining the fray Mendip were back to full strength and they got stronger as the half progressed. James Lovell ventured forward more and more from left back, linking up well with Oli to advance things and with the match moving towards its conclusion Liam drifted out to the left to receive a ball inside the 23m line and with one fluid movement unleashed an exquisite slide rule pass across the D into the path of John who without hesitation deflected into the net; 4 – 3.
Mendip saw out the remainder of the match with disciplined resilience, having to withstand 3 consecutive short corners after the full time whistled had blown.
All-in-all this was a thoroughly entertaining match made all the sweeter by the hard fought win.
The Team was: Leigh Taylor, Andy Flint, Giles Denning, Rich Penn, James Lovell, Josh Sutton, Oli Beechener, Will Lawton, Liam Young, John Lippiatt and Steve Smith.
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