BRIDPORT RESERVES 1

Carlile 46

BALTI SPORTS 4

Stavrianos 34, Andrews 58, Burrows 59, Drummond 90+5

BALTI Sports were in ruthless form as Bridport Reserves suffered a 4-1 reverse in the DPL Supplementary Cup at St Mary’s Field.

Promising young winger Stef Stavrianos put Balti ahead in the 34th minute but Antony Carlile levelled immediately after half-time for the Bees.

Midway through the half, Marco Nott’s men kicked into another gear with two goals in a minute – Danny Andrews and Matty Burrows killing the game off.

As the Bees chased a second goal, Jack Drummond produced a lethal finish in the dying stages to sign off a superb afternoon for the visitors.

Throughout the Supplementary Cup – brought in by the Dorset FA to mitigate the coronavirus-shortened season – Balti have been in excellent scoring touch.

But the Weymouth side were checked early on by the work rate of Richard Middleton’s Bees, who were again watched by first-team boss John Godbold and his assistant Rob Marquis.

Bridport were fast into the tackle and broke up several dangerous Balti moves, one such instance coming as Harry Burwood received possession and fired at away keeper Andy Nott.

Former Bees hero Ryan Dovell was then well placed to make an important headed clearance but from the resulting corner Jake Owen aimed a volley at Nott when unmarked.

As the game became stretched, a lovely Balti move set Andrews free inside the box only for his cross to meet the head of Owen.

Balti had impressed in wide areas with the pace and strength of Burrows causing real problems.

And the talented winger grazed past Noah Adler to put the ball on a plate for Sanchez Baker whose downward volley somehow bounced over from 12 yards.

Home goalkeeper Jordon Scadding denied Burrows in a one-on-one chance but he could not stop Balti moving ahead in the 34th minute.

Andrews threaded a cutting ball through the Bees’ defence for Stavrianos to run onto and guide a first-time finish home.

Scadding was called upon to deny Andrews from a free-kick after Riley Weedon was sin-binned for dissent before half-time.

However, the one-man disadvantage did not hurt the Bees.

Just 23 seconds into the second half, substitute Sam Handyside’s superb cross invited Carlile to blast past Nott for 1-1.

Weedon’s return and Handyside’s direct play sparked the Bees into life and the latter nearly put Bridport ahead with a dipping 25-yard strike.

Faced with a vastly improved opposition, Balti stepped up their own play to devastating effect.

Andrews produced a typically predatory finish to guide home a cross in the 58th minute and less than 60 seconds later Burrows burst down the left before drilling into the far corner for 3-1.

The rapid double was a sucker punch for Bridport, who saw Weedon try a cheeky 30-yard chip in response.

Middleton switched to a 3-4-3 formation in search of goals and Bridport again stoked their fire as sub Josh Hunter tested Nott, who was struggling with a groin injury.

Bridport’s change in shape allowed Balti extra space out wide, leading to the introduction of Drummond and Josh Grace for Stavrianos and Andrews, stricken with an ankle knock.

Good work from Drummond won a corner in the 80th minute and the delivery was nearly nodded home by Dovell.

Handyside cracked two whistling long-range efforts wide before full-time but fittingly it was Balti who had the final say.

Drummond collected a raking diagonal ball, shifted inside and conjured a lethal finish past Scadding to give Balti their second 4-1 victory in two weeks.

Away boss Marco Nott told Echosport: “They always cause us problems and the goal after half-time with 10 men was typical Bridport. They keep going until the end.

“I thought we managed and played the game perfectly. We got the goals – 2-1 and 3-1 – quite quickly and it almost killed the game.

“We got the counter-attack fourth at the end, but I thought we were brilliant.

“We’ve been good all tournament, it’s been really good football. It was nice we managed the game because last time at 3-1 up they got back to 3-3 and we were all over the place.

“It was really pleasing, especially to get the fourth.”

Bees: Jo Scadding, Adler, Ja Scadding, Owen, Greenwood-Neate (Handyside 46), Burwood (Hunter 65), Weedon, Wood, Carlile, Rossiter, A Steele (Gear 75). Subs not used: James, Weir.

Balti: A Nott, Nichols, Taylor, Zima, Dovell, McClements, Andrews (Grace 70), Devaney, Baker, Stavrianos (Drummond 80), Burrows. Subs not used: M Nott, O’Shaughnessy.

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