Otis Young’s superb 30 yard goal lit up a turgid first half at a cold Moor Lane but the hosts took advantage of a few defensive lapses to win the points after half time. The major talking point came late on when Nathan Hallett-Young was very harshly sent off.
Both teams are having far better seasons than last time around but equally all the players seemed to be rusty after weather enforced postponements a week earlier.
There were many misplaced passes by both sides and, when chances did arise, there was poor finishing by Wincanton’s Connor Williams, Jack Burnett and Iwan Walters – although the latter did force Charlie Heydon to save his attempt. Likewise at the other end Otis Young and Martin Johnson were wasteful while both of them as well as Ferris Lamrabet had efforts blocked by good defending.
Young’s goal five minutes before the break was completely out of place in such a poor match, he received the ball 35 yards from goal and, after advancing a short distance, unleashed an unstoppable shot that flew past Jamie Stewart!
United Manager James Goddard chose to change formation immediately after the goal and kept with the new shape after the break, he was also short of options from the bench due to Matt Mantay’s pre match injury. This seemed to invite Wincanton forward and George Rigby had already shot over the bar before a bad error by Jordan Pinder gifted the ball to Tom Morris who set up Williams; Heydon saved his attempt but Morris was on hand to tap in the rebound and make it 1-1 on 56.
Town kept up the pressure and a further lapse by Jordan Lawrence allowed Dan Wise to prod the ball past Heydon but the post ensured the score remained level.
George Bendle had a great chance to restore Westbury’s lead but having latched onto Young’s pass he chose to shoot low with the ball going narrowly wide when there was an option to dink the ball over the advancing Stewart. Bendle had a further attempt go equally close a little later on, in between those opportunities Toby Cole and Matt Morley had gone close at the other end.
With play into the final 10 minutes Ian Groves seemed to have set up a chance for Johnson but he was slow to shoot and when the ball broke to Lamrabet he was also not positive enough in front of goal. United paid the price on 82 when Morley cut in from the left and hit an excellent strike that few past Heydon to put Wincanton ahead.
Hallett-Young entered the game on 83 but didn’t even last 2 minutes as his desire to force an equaliser saw him race into the box but slip on the sticky surface and foul the advancing Stewart. The referee consulted with his assistant and they harshly decided the challenge was worthy of a red card. This affected the whole team and they were unable to muster any opportunity at gaining a point.
Team: Charlie Heydon, Jordan Pinder, Jordan Lawrence, Matt Jones, Ian Groves, James Hounsell, Jamie Jordan, Martin Johnson, George Bendle, Otis Young, Ferris Lamrabet
Substitutes: Grant Gunning, Nathan Hallett-Young (used) Matt Mantay, Karl Freeman (unused)
