MERLEY COBHAM SPORTS 2 BRIDPORT RESERVES 1

TRISTAN Gale saw red for the visitors as Robin Townsend’s men lost their second match on the trot in the Dorset Premier League.

Gary Bulman gave the Bees the lead 20 minutes in before Stuart Cannie equalised from the spot.

Gale, booked for dissent in the first half, was shown a second yellow for deliberate handball after the break.

His moment of madness was to prove costly for Bridport as not long after the hosts broke clear and Aaron Atkinson scored the winner.

“It wasn’t our best performance,” said Bees’ boss Townsend.

“We went 1-0 up through Gary Bulman then conceded a penalty.

“If you were the defending team you wouldn’t have thought it was a penalty but we should have cleared the ball before it was played into the box.

“We had a good spell for 10 minutes after half-time and created a few chances which we should have taken.

“Then Tristan Gale was given a second yellow card which he could have no complaints with.

“Five minutes later they cleared a corner, broke with pace, and scored at the other end.

“We pushed for an equaliser but with 10 men we couldn’t break them down.”

Looking ahead to Tuesday night’s game at reigning champions Portland United (6.30pm), Townsend added: “We can’t do what we did on Saturday when we were carrying four or five players.

“No-one is expecting us to get anything at Portland but if we perform at our best we can get something from it.”

Bees: Fry, Porteous (Scovell 60), Lock, Day, Herbst, T Gale, H Fleet, Cummings, McClements (Rh Hayter 70), Bulman, B Clarke