Bees look to move away from danger (From Dorset Echo)

Bees look to move away from danger

7:30pm Monday 18th March 2013 in Sport By David Williams, Sports Reporter

BRIDPORT can put some daylight between them and the bottom three tomorrow when they face close rivals Winterbourne United at St Mary’s Field (7.45pm).

The Bees head their opponents on goal difference near the foot of the Toolstation Western Premier Division with only Wells and Barnstaple below Winterbourne.

And while Bridport try to pick up what would be a vital three points in their quest to avoid relegation, Trevor Senior’s men will also attempt to make up for what happened in the reverse fixture last September.

They lost 3-0 and played for nearly an hour with 10 men after a red card for Matt Condliffe, leading Senior to describe it as probably his side’s worst performance of the campaign.

“We’ve got a couple of home games coming up and tonight is a real six-pointer,” said Senior. “We’ve got a game in hand on them and a win would open up a little bit of a gap.

“It’s a massive game and we’ll do our best to get the three points and keep our run going.

“They were not the best side in the world when we played them before but we were awful and got beaten 3-0. Matt Condliffe was sent off just before half time and they scored two late goals.

“Looking back at that game it was one of the worst, if not the worst, of the season and we didn’t do ourselves justice.

“We’d had a few bad results and they caught us on a bad day and we were nearly an hour with 10 men. Hopefully we can put that right this time.”

The postponement of Saturday’s away fixture at Brislington meant Jamie Symes was unable to end his loan stay on the pitch.

But Dan Wise, who was due to miss the trip to Brislington, is available for tonight while Russell Legg comes in for Symes, and Max Buckler is hoping for a return to first team action following a torn hamstring in December.

Keeper Sam Filkins has university commitments so Sean Lillington is ready to stand in between the sticks for the hosts, who have lost just once so far this calendar year.

Senior may have lost Symes but he is confident Legg can hit the ground running again having served a lengthy suspension. He said: “Russell has got plenty of experience but unfortunately he has picked up a few yellow and red cards.

“The last red card could have been avoided. He went in two-footed and got a second yellow then muttered something to the referee as he walked off.

“He’s a good Western League player and has always had that edge to his game. Hopefully he can channel that in the right way and he’s always likely to chip in with a goal as well.”

Bees (from): Lillington, J Filkins, Condliffe, C Clarke, Hayter, Luke, M Buckler, Wise, Legg, Dovell, B Clarke, Ritchie, Hailu, Richardson, Lock

Following the postponement of Saturday's game at Brislington, a new date has been set for the re-arranged game.

The Bees will now visit Ironmould Lane on Thursday, April 25.