Radstock Town 3-1 Westbury Utd – Toolstation First Division, Sat. 11th February

It was a freezing cold afternoon in Radstock and all the action of the first half seemed to happen in the first five minutes.

A few minutes after kick off the referee blew for an offside decision against Radstock, the Radstock striker decided to carry on his run and clatter Keirran Ramsey more than five seconds after the referee had blown his whistle, Ramsey was hurt and needed treatment but the referee didn’t feel the need to caution the player for what was an obvious foul after the whistle had gone.

Westbury’s Leon Greenland on his first start for the club broke through the Radstock defence and was brought down, it might have been down to the theatrical nature of the fall, that looked more suited to entering a swimming pool than a football pitch, but the referee gave nothing and allowed play to go on.

Westbury had a very good first 25 minutes, creating quite a few good chances but still the score remained 0-0. Radstock finished the first half on the front foot, the Westbury goal wasn’t troubled but Radstock were getting forward in numbers and causing Westbury to defend.

Westbury started the second half well. Just after the ten minutes mark, the first substitutions of the game took place – Jake Stephenson and George Bendle came on to replace Sean Brereton and the excellent Matt Mantay. The subs instantly made an impact, their fresh legs energised the Westbury attack. Martin Johnson manoeuvred into a shooting position, Stephenson made a lung busting run into the box, Johnson took his shot which was guided into his own net by a Radstock defender. A few minutes later Greenland got goal side of the defenders with the ball at his feet and was brought down again, again the referee gave nothing.

Westbury only managed to hold onto their lead until the 65th minute when a crazy ten minutes commenced, seeing Radstock score three goals. For the first the referee wrongly awarded a corner. The delivery was good and Radstock’s no. 11 finished at the far post. The second was a speculative shot from outside the area which Ramsey misjudged and seemed to jump a little early meaning that he couldn’t get a firm hand to it and ended up pushing it into his own net right above his head. Their third was another good delivery from a wide free-kick, the unlucky Jordan Pinder couldn’t keep it out after closely marking the Radstock no. 11, he was beaten in the air and the ball deflected off his head into his own net.

Otis Young came on for Jamie Jordan late on but Westbury couldn’t find a route to goal.

All in all, Westbury were unfortunate not to get something out of the game against a physically strong Radstock team. They left Southfields Recreation Ground disappointed. They are now looking forward to welcoming Portishead Town to Meadow Lane on Tuesday evening.

Star Man: Martin Johnson – Probably his best performance for the White Horse men; didn’t deserve to be on the losing team.