WINSCOMBE GRIND OUT A WIN TO GO TOP

In a physical battle against Burnbridge, Winscombe made it ten wins on the bounce in all competitions, despite a disjointed, out-of-sorts performance.

Once again, they were out of the traps quickly and took another early lead when Dylan Coates, supplied by Isaac 'King of the Assists' Hale, scored from the edge of the area. However, this advantage couldn't be doubled and Burnbridge equalised on the half-hour mark when a break down the right-hand side culminated with an unerring finish over Oli Lovell's head.

A stern but positive half-time talking-to resulted in Winscombe re-taking the lead after the break – a typically mazy Hale run presented a tap-in for Ted Palmer to continue his recent rich vein of scoring. With five minutes left, Hale had the chance to put the game beyond Burnbridge's reach from the penalty-spot, but for the second match in a row, his spot-kick missed the target, this time hitting the crossbar and going out of play for a goal kick.

Winscombe saw out the last few minutes to take all three points and move clear of Portishead at the top of the table. However, to maintain that lofty perch, a return to a more fluid brand of football is required in the next match against Clevedon United Colts, recent conquerors of then-league leaders Portishead.

[The comparative brevity of this report and the match details is due to the Director of Football being away on a scouting mission in Manchester. Normal service will be resumed next week.]