8:56am Monday 30th November 2009
By Rob Meech
BOSS Mike Savage watched his side’s Dorset Senior Trophy clash with Wincanton Town Reserves be abandoned and then admitted: “We have been reprieved”.
Bridport Reserves were trailing 2-1 at St Mary’s Field before the referee aborted this second round tie after 55 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.
Central defender Sam Day had also been banished to the dressing-room for an early bath after collecting his second yellow card, reducing the Bees to 10 men.
And Savage was characteristically honest when assessing a game in which his troops struggled to match a team two tiers lower on the Dorset football pyramid.
He said: “Sam had just been sent off and we were losing. Things weren’t going our way so the abandonment was like an early Christmas present for me.
“We have been reprieved and although Wincanton were unhappy that the game was called off, it was the right decision because the pitch wasn’t playable.
“The referee was going to call it off at half-time but he spoke to the two captains and Wincanton’s obviously wanted to continue because they were in front.
“They weren’t happy but it probably should have been called off at half-time and that way the outcome would have been much less controversial.”
He added: “The pitch was all right at the start of the game, but I had gone down at 10am and it was pretty wet then so I knew any more rain would have put it in doubt.
“We still should have beaten them but the conditions didn’t help our style of football. We are a young, small side and don’t have much pace up front.”
Dorset Reserve League outfit Wincanton belied their inferior status and made an explosive start in West Dorset, opening up a two-goal lead inside five minutes.
The inclusion of hitman Ben Clarke gave Bridport Reserves more firepower and he halved the arrears on 30 minutes when his deflected shot looped over the visiting keeper.
Day’s sending off weighted the odds further in Wincanton’s favour before the subsequent abandonment extinguished their hopes of pulling off a cup upset.
Owing to the fact that Dorset cup games assume priority over league fixtures, this tie will be replayed this Saturday – weather permitting – at St Mary’s Field.
Bees: Tozer, C Bulman, Herbst, Day, A Clarke, C Symes, M Bulman, Coggins, Fry, B Clarke, D McAllister (Stordy 54).
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