13/9/15: On Sunday 13th September Mendip travelled to Premiership club Taunton Vale for the 1st round of the Somerset Cup and came within a whisker of a major giant killing.
The hosts started with confidence and passed the ball around with ease but Mendip worked extremely hard to close down and put pressure on their opposition.
The Mendip back four settled into their rhythm early and when in possession the midfield duo of Will Lawton and Rich Briscoe were very positive and surged forward at pace.
The game ebbed and flowed during the early stages but when a Briscoe shot was only parried by the keeper John Lippiatt was first to react and without hesitation he unleashed a ferocious volley into the roof of the net. That ignited a belief into Mendip and they took the play to Taunton without fear and when Liam Young increased the lead from a short corner it was very much ‘game on’.
The hosts had their fair share of possession but strangely they resorted to the speculative long ball and the Mendip defence stood firm and dealt with the threat comfortably.
Mendip were more incisive in attack and Liam and John were working well with the midfield to create chances and when Will made a strong run down the right wing and put in a dangerous cross, John was well placed to guide home on the reverse stick to make it 3 – 0.
With Mendip very much in the ascendency as the half drew to a close there was still time for Will to force home from close range and the electronic scoreboard registered an astonishing 4 – 0 score-line going into the break. However, following a consultation between the two umpires the goal was retrospectively ‘chalked out’ for an alleged foot infringement so Mendip started the 2nd half with a well-deserved 3 goal advantage.
Things changed dramatically as the hosts found their form and came out stronger and more determined and their technical ability and skills were much more apparent as they played with a much higher tempo and swarmed forward in numbers. The Mendip defence came under increasingly more pressure but the veteran skipper seemed to have things well under control as he guided an attacker away from goal only for the player to let rip with a reverse stick shot that fair flew into the top corner from the narrowest of angles leaving Leigh Taylor, the Mendip keeper, totally bemused.
All credit to the visitors, their reply showed great character and they went on the attack as Liam intercepted a stray pass and immediately fired a well drilled ball through to John who deflected into the goal with a move straight off the training ground.
With the match entering its final 1/3 Mendip began to visibly tire from the sheer amount of effort they had put in and the midfield were unable to maintain any sort of control. They were woefully outnumbered as space started to open up and Mendip were stretched all over the park.
Despite Mendip’s best efforts to keep their shape and discipline Taunton pressed home their dominance closing the gap to 4 – 2 with a well struck shot from a short corner and a further 3 unanswered goals from open play during the following 10 or 15 minutes threatened to undo all of Mendip’s valiant endeavours. However, they rallied for one final push and Liam used his devastating pace when he picked up the ball and bore down on goal, deftly lifting over the keeper as he went to ground.
With the scores level at 5 – 5 Mendip might even have pinched it right at the death when Liam again found himself one-on-one with the keeper but this time he was thwarted and the match ended with honours even.
Despite Rich Briscoe and James Lovell converting their Penalty Strokes and Leigh Taylor saving one, Mendip went down 3 – 2 and the adventure was over.
The team was: Leigh Taylor, Toby Green, Andy Flint (Capt.), James Lovell, Mike Bristowe, Will Lawton, Tyler Wiltshire, Rich Briscoe, James England, Pete Waddington, Liam Young and John Lippiatt.
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