United twice pegged back

Sat. 7th Sept. Toolstation Premier League Chipping Sodbury Town 2 Westbury United 2

Westbury had a tough afternoon which resulted in a draw that feels like a loss after being pegged back twice by Chipping Sodbury.

It was a good first half performance from Westbury which should have seen them more than the one goal clear; there were chances for Ricky Hulbert, Joe Stradling and Sammy Jordan but they could not guide the ball past the keeper. 

Stradling’s best chance was created by himself, he worked hard pressing and harassing the Sodbury defence and eventually got his reward when he won the ball, about thirty yards from goal on the left hand side. He skipped past a few players and fired  his shot on target but the Sodbury keeper saved well and held the ball. 

Westbury thought they had the lead on the 35 minute mark, a Henley cross from deep was flicked on by Kovacs, Sammy Jordan was there to acrobatically apply a bicycle kick finish, only for the assistant referee to flag for offside.

Just three minutes later though Jordan Pinder found the breakthrough with a shot from 25 yards that deceived everyone and squeezed past the Sodbury keeper diving low to his right. Westbury led 1-0 at half time.

Within minutes of the restart Sodbury equalised with a smart counter attack after a Westbury free kick. They were level for less than five minutes though, a shot from Sammy Jordan was going wide of the far post but Ricky Hulbert managed to get there and from a tight angle, hitting that ball back across the face of the goal to bounce off the other post into the net to put Westbury back in front. 

Callum Ham came on to make his debut and it was a good start for the former Cheddar and Bridgwater player. He looked lively and will become an important member of the squad going forward. Disaster struck five minutes from time, a Westbury corner was cleared and Sodbury galloped off on another counterattack, managing to score again and make it 2-2, Sodbury had their tails up and for the last five minutes they pinned Westbury in and had a few half chances to maybe win it.

It was really a match of two halves, Westbury could have and maybe should have been out of sight by half-time but Sodbury worked hard and kept the goal difference down to one and managed to get their reward at the end. 

Star Man: Joe Stradling. Team: Ed Baldy, Jason Henley, Ryan Bole, Dan Jordan (C), Dan Price, Jordan Pinder, Joe Stradling, Jamie Jordan, Ricky Hulbert, Dan Kovacs, Sammy Jordan. Subs: Callum Ham, Mark Robinson (used) Joe Kirkpatrick (unused).

• United are ninth in the table with 7 points from 4 games.

Greg Coulson