WELTON ROVERS 1 – 2 BITTON AFC

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Intro

Bitton come into this fixture desperately hunting for their first league win of the season, having so far only picking up a point against Street back in August. Since then it has largely been tough going for the suburban Bristol side who have suffered heavy defeats to a number of teams including high flying Bridgwater United, Saltash United and Buckland Athletic. One silver lining was a 4-1 FA Vase win at home to Wokingham & Emmbrook, but there was to be no cup run as they narrowly lost in the next round at home to Eversley & California.

Newly promoted Welton lost 3-1 at home to Millbrook on Saturday after an impressive 2-1 away win over fellow promoted side Sherborne the Saturday before. In the FA Cup the Greens lost at home to US Portsmouth in the Extra Preliminary Round, while in the Vase they crashed out at the first time of asking away at Bovey Tracey. With just the league to concentrate on now, Rovers will look to secure Premier Division status for next season.

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The Ground

West Clewes sits quite centrally in the small town of Midsomer Norton. On the near side is a good sized club house along with a couple of covered viewing areas – one seated and one standing. Also on this side is a small uncovered terrace towards the far end. Opposite are two large breeze block dugouts, while at the near end is a car park where drivers risk their vehicles being peppered by wayward shots.

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The Match

For some reason I assumed this was a 7:45 kick off, but as I walked down the road outside West Clewes I spied the players out and shaking hands before kick off, so clearly I was wrong. I upped my pace and just made it pitchside for kick off. The home team started on the front foot and forced visiting keeper Kai Wilson into action on 8 minutes; a lethal ball low into the box was just about cleared by Wilson. A couple of minutes later a shot from Rovers went through a crowded box and seemed to take several nicks as it flew wide of the target. Moments later Welton should probably have taken the lead but a shot from 6 yards was over the bar. Somewhat against the run of play, Bitton had the ball in the back of the net only to see the goal ruled out for handball. Halfway through the half, Welton’s Lewis Hunt nicked the ball off a defender, drove forward into the box but dragged his shot wide. The rest of the half saw mostly Welton in possession but with no end product and the first period ended goalless.

Home goalkeeper Matt Dunk pulled off a great save early in the second half – a free kick over the top was met by a Bitton head but Dunk got his hand to it. A minute later and at the other end, Wilson made a good save with his feet. Just before the hour mark, debutant Conner McKay hit a first time shot from the edge of the area. It wasn’t terribly close to either corner, but it was powerful enough to beat Dunk and put the visitors ahead. Handbags were out seconds after the restart as Hunt appeared to step on a Bitton player but from my view it was unavoidable from the Welton winger. The Bitton players didn’t share this opinion and seemed keen for Hunt to be shown a red card. Fortunately for the home side the referee decided it was accidental and took no further action. Rovers’ luck didn’t hold out for long and they found themselves 2 goals behind on 66 minutes. McKay received the ball from the influential Jamal Chevelleau, cut inside and finshed low into the corner. It was turning into a debut to remember for the former Warminster attacker. It was so nearly 3-0 to the bottom side as a corner was sent into the box, but the effort was cleared off the line. Welton had a goal disallowed with a little over 10 minutes left – Wilson parried well but the rebound was buried. The assistant referee had his flag up and kept the score at 2-0. Welton were pushing to get something out of the game, and next to threaten was right back Jaiden Savery who sent a fizzing shot just over after cutting inside. With 7 minutes remaining, lofty substitute Joe Garland got his head to a deep cross and buried his header at the back post. It was too little too late, however and there was to be no equaliser for the home side.

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The Photos

The full gallery of match photos is also available HERE