Game Of Two Halves As Hosts Run Riot In Second Half

Anyone watching this encounter, played for the most part in driving rain, could be forgiven for believing they were watching a different home team in the second half. On-form Winscombe put in their weakest, wobbliest performance of the season in the first 35 minutes (well, the first 25 – more on that later) and justifiably found themselves a goal down at the break to the visitors who were seeking their second win on the bounce.

The goal that separated the teams was a peach, with Clevedon's number 14, who had impressed against Winscombe in previous seasons, curling the ball into the top far corner. 0-1.

Another body-blow to the hosts came four minutes later when keeper Oli Lovell forcefully cleared the ball but immediately fell to the ground in agony with a suspected torn muscle. Word from the physio is that he is likely to be sidelined for a few weeks.

With a Ted Palmer free-kick the only goal-bound effort of note in the first period, Winscombe headed to the dressing-room with heads bowed for a serious pep-talk from manager Sinclair and assistant manager Palmer. But that only came after a lengthy discussion with the referee who curiously blew for the break ten minutes early.

The mild hairdryer treatment dished out seemed to do the trick, albeit aided by the surprising substitution at the break of Clevedon's most effective central defender. After both Finn Williamson and Jackson Cook went close in the opening moments of the second half, the hosts equalised when Max Brean neatly flicked home a Cook free-kick. 1-1.

Winscombe's second came from another free kick. Dylan Coates pumped the ball forward from deep inside his own half and when it looked like it had come to nothing, the unfortunate Clevedon keeper let it slip from his grasp and trickle over the line. 2-1.

Two minutes later came the third when, in a near-carbon-copy of Winscombe's opener, Williamson deftly turned home another inch-perfect Cook cross from the right. 3-1. The floodgates were open now and, five minutes later, Cook stroked Brean's through ball into an empty net. 4-1.

A fifth arrived moments later when Dougie Gait twisted and turned before slotting home a lovely individual goal with his trademark precision. 5-1. The goal tally was complete when this season's leading scorer Isaac Hale planted a perfect free-kick past the Clevedon keeper. 6-1.

While the result keeps Winscombe firmly in the title hunt (22 goals in their last three games, albeit one of those was a cup game), a more solid display over the full 70 minutes is required next Saturday when they lock horns with Winscombe Colts in the fiercest local derby this side of Istanbul.