A STUNNING strike from John Welch salvaged a point for Chickerell United Reserves against near neighbours Upwey & Broadwey.

Visiting Upwey took the lead at the Stalls through Darren Samways, after Ethan Devaney’s initial shot struck a post, but Welch restored parity, finding the top corner with a fierce drive from the edge of the box.

The result was met with mixed emotions for Upwey boss Steve Reynolds, who said: “I felt that on the basis of our first-half performance it was two points dropped because we should have buried them, but given how the second half went I was happy with a point.

“Having not played the previous week, we needed to start on the front foot and with pace, and we did. We played them off the park but chance after chance went begging.

“We probably edged the second half but they came into it more and more and had some chances of their own.

“However, we took the lead through Darren, and after squandering so many chances I was pleased to see it go in.

“Chickerell battled well and had two good youngsters in defence (Ryan Hanger and Liam Andrews) who kept Darren and Ben Coltart relatively quiet, which is no easy job.

“And they equalised with about 20 minutes to go after we failed to clear our lines properly and then failed to close the man down.

“There were still chances to win the game at both ends and luckily for us Phil Anderson made two last-ditch tackles which were timed to perfection.”

Reynolds was also disappointed to see his side denied an “obvious” spot-kick. He added: “We had three penalty appeals.

“The first, on Darren, looked a penalty to me, the second on Ty Young I wasn’t so sure about but the third was such an obvious handball that the only bloke in Dorset who didn’t see it was the referee.”

Counterpart Dave Drage was pleased to see his young charges come from behind in Saturday’s Dorset Senior League derby.

He said: “We have a young side but they are starting to understand what this level is all about. It’s been a step up this season coming into the Senior League so it’s pleasing to get a point against a side like Upwey.

“They had the lion’s share of possession but we defended well and got a goal in the second half to earn a satisfying result.”

Chickens: Bennett, Stalker (Carter 85), Andrews, Hanger, Peck, Jo Welch, Ja Welch (Evans 70), S Welch (Walbridge 60), Thorne, Priest, Paice.

Upwey: C Coltart, Porteous, Anderson, McLucas, Pearce, Zima, Frost, McDonald (Jarvis 75), Devaney, B Coltart, Samways (Young 80). Subs not used: Djeebet, Purnell, Sweetser-Hawks.