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 A week is a long time in football, even at our level, and after a very tough start of losing four on the bounce we have now won the last 2, both games being at home and look forward to a third at home on Tuesday evening at Moor Lane to Welton Rovers.

I have stated repeatedly to the players that this season in order to succeed it will take a squad effort and is not about the starting 11 and that has proved to be the case already this term using 21 players already and still with having Danny Golden and Brett Cotterill who are yet to kick a ball yet this season to come back in the very near future also.

Tuesday night we beat Bishops Lydeard at home 4-0, a goal from Louis Irwin early on set us up for a good start with Mike Taylor adding a second, attacking a deep Dan Wise free kick very well to head home. Second half two goals from goal scorer Toby Cole sealed the victory and in truth it could and probably should have been more but 4-0 was a good victory and nice to get our first three points of the season under our belt. 

Saturday we faced Lebeq Utd who had lost just once so far to top of the table Ashton & Backwell, beating Bristol Telephones, Longwell Green and a 5-1 away opening day thumping of Cheddar meaning they started the day in 2nd place. We played well in this game, dictated the tempo and restricted them to no shots at our goal until the 85th minute when they scored what was looking likely to be a late consolation goal before adding a 2nd a few minutes after, deep into injury time to make for a nervy last few seconds of the game.

Before this we had taken a 3-0 lead, a hat trick of penalties from the ever reliable captain Dan Wise. To score three penalties in one game is some feat, not one I have encountered before and Dans record from the penalty spot is first class and you back him to score every time he steps up and know he will keep his cool in pressured situations time and time again, touch wood! 

The other thing I would just like to touch on is our home and away support has increased so far this season, for whatever the reasons I just wanted to thank those that have come to show their support on behalf of myself and the players, it really does make a huge difference to us to and is appreciated massively, our next game is Tuesday 29th September at home to Welton Rovers, we would love to see you there

 

The game on Saturday was a local derby and a big game for both clubs. I knew it was going to be a tough game and that we had to be determined and resilient from the get go. We had to press high and make sure that they had no space to play any football, because they were a good team. 

We started off very quickly and within 10/15 minutes we were on top and we had a few chances to break the deadlock. The breakthrough came around 20 minutes when Shaun Dix with a weaving run through the defence saw him brought down for a penalty. Our top scorer from last year Sam Fisher stepped up to take the penalty and calmly slotted it down the middle past The mere keeper.

Mere had some chances and breakthroughs but our defence stood strong all the way through that half. We nearly had a second goal when Oakley Page was put through and the keeper just got there before Oakley could poke  the ball home. 

The second-half started off strong as  we played well keeping and moving the ball and our retained possession making sure that the opposition didn’t have a chance.  We stood strong in defence not letting them through and put our bodies on the line. 

We had a lot of chances through set plays which I thought was our strong point and we finally got our second goal from a corner floated in and Shaun Dix came in to power the ball home to make it 2-0. 

We then had to endure some pressure from Mere and got lucky a few times when the ball was crossed in the box but Shaun Dix was there to clear it. They had some more chances and Mere would have scored was it not for Quinn Adam who put his body on the line to stop the ball going in the net.

Overall I think we deserved the win due to our resilience, determination and passion that we needed to get ourselves over the line. If we can push on and play like that every week we have a strong chance of finishing well this season.

The first game of the new season after a crazy wait since March for competitive football. The pre season has gone well for the most part playing competitive friendlies until we faced Gillingham town away when we had injury after injury occur which is still hampering us now weeks later and will impact heavily on our team at Almondsbury this weekend. Over the summer we have added a couple of additions to our squad in Tom Richardson who has joined from Axminster but has previously played with Bridport and Portland and he’s a good player and great lad and he’s settled straight into the group. We’ve also bought in Aron Wallis a left sided player who has done well so far in pre season. Another player we have bought in is Max Hinds from Shaftesbury FC, Max played here a few years previous and has since grown into a stronger more confident player. Matt Garner has joined up front and he is another top addition, 6’6 and a powerful player will add plenty on and off the pitch with an eye for goal as well. Lastly Mike Taylor has been tempted out of retirement to give play this season, the former Bristol City youth, Taunton Town player and Wincanton Town captain will be a fantastic signing and has shown already that his defensive and leadership qualities will be invaluable amongst our young squad. Today we lost 1-2 to Almondsbury, to be able to put out a decent squad at all for this game, with Harry turner, Jamie Irwin and Tom Richardson all out for suspension, Connor Williams, Brett Cotterill, Danny Golden and Toby Cole all out with injury and Max Hinds having not cleared FA international clearance yet shows the depth of the Wincanton Town squad this year, and when I say squad I also mean that from the reserves where I had to call on 3 players, Luke Davis (who was superb in a friendly for us in the week against Ilminster) Ryan Biss and winger Sam Fisher. We went 1-0 up early, a Dan Wise cross to the back post was headed back across goal by Mike Taylor and was nodded home by Matt Garner for a great start. We could and perhaps should have increased our lead within a first 25 minute spell we completely dominated on a terrible pitch, but it wasn’t to be and we went in at half time 1-0 up. Second half was completely different and we deservedly went behind when Sam came out and got lobbed from distance, we then conceded another poor defensive goal 7 minutes from time and despite Louis Irwin and Jack Atkins both having decent chances to level it wasn’t to be. A frustrating result but not the end of the world with the players we have missing and we can get a few back on Tuesday and go again against what will be a very tough game against Warminster. This brings me on to the next point, we really really need more support from the town, our attendances are always some of the lowest in the league and I know the people of Wincanton would enjoy an afternoon here at Moor Lane cheering on some local talent! Our next game is this Tuesday 8th September 19.30pm kick off, just £5 adults and £3 concessions, we would LOVE to see you there.

Thanks

Chris Wise