CHARD TOWN     0

BRIDPORT    1
Salter 14

MARK Salter’s early finish saw Bridport through to the quarter-finals of the Les Phillips Cup at the expense of Chard Town from the division below.

Salter’s strike came in the 14th minute in a match where Bridport mostly dominated and had several further chances to extend their lead.

Bridport started on the attack and were rewarded shortly into the match with Salter’s goal, which came from a great move. Lee Sweet knocked a great ball over the Chard full-back to Butcher, who delivered a first-time cross for Salter to get in front of his man and nod the Bees into the lead.

Bridport went close to extending the lead in the first half when Sweet had a lovely shot from the edge of the box saved by Johnathan Hill in the Chard goal, while a Chris McGrath free header prompted a great double save from Hill.

In the second half, Bridport continued to pressure the home side but without reward while Jason Hutchings in the Bees’ goal did not have much to do.

Kameron Andrews and Richard Hebditch both called the Chard keeper into action but the score remained the same as Bridport earned a valuable win and got through to the quarter-finals.

The match saw Bridport manager Adam Fricker, Jason Hutchings, Andy Martin and Ed Butcher come up against their former club.

When asked if that added an extra spice to the match, Fricker said: “It did a little bit.

“For us it was not about ex-Chard players it was about the lads, they are Bridport players now and they went there and did the job for Bridport.”

Reflecting upon the game, Fricker said: “ It was a case of going there and getting the job done basically and that is what we did. We were very professional.

“The lads were excellent and did what we needed to do and their keeper certainly kept the score down.”

Fricker added: “We needed the win, it’s nice to progress in t he cup and get to the quarter-finals but more importantly we needed a win to almost try and get our season back on track a little bit.

Bridport are next in action when they face 18th-placeD Cadbury Heath on Wednesday at St Mary’s Field (7.45pm).

Chard Town: Hill, Pearson, Bailey, Holmes, Haines, Westlake, Parris, Dicker, Cleal, Benjani, Boyland

Bridport: Hutchings, Martin, McGrath, Rutter, Andrews, Sweet, Richardson (Condliffe 65), Hebditch, Thomas (Peach 85), Salter, Butcher (Latas 75). Subs not used: Smith

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