Time was when a draw at Weston would be viewed with a huge sigh of relief against a side who have always punched above their weight in these derby matches.  But as County extended their unbeaten run at Woodspring Stadium to two whole matches, those times are gone!  Indeed, the failure to secure all three points left the away fans feeling a sense of disappointment, while Peter Beadle felt very angry indeed with his side’s display.

County failed to score from an injury time spot-kick which would have sent the visiting hordes home happy with the three points, but it would have been more than was deserved from the game and to refer to this as a missed penalty does a huge disservice to Weston keeper Ryan Northmore who guessed correctly and dived full length to his left to keep out Charlie Griffin’s attempt from 12 yards. 

The day started badly for County fans who arrived at the Somerset seaside to learn that Jason Bowen was unwell, and though Sam O’Sullivan returned to the squad after a long injury absence Beads wisely wanted to ease the hero of last April’s success at this venue back into first team action, so James Simpson played in the wide right slot as he had when Bowen missed his previous encounter at Bromley.  The former Cardiff City scholar had acquitted himself relatively well in the two previous games in the unaccustomed position of right-back, but he found it difficult to make an impact further forward and Bowen’s absence was clearly felt.

Weston manager Tony Ricketts had obviously done his homework on County and he played a flexible 4-5-1 with Aaron Ledgister and new signing from Cheltenham Sosthene Yao pushing forward from midfield in support of Gareth Hopkins.  County’s marking from Weston’s first corner on 20 minutes gave serious cause for concern when Andy Robertson was allowed a free header from 10 yards, though he did not seriously test Glyn Thompson.

Weston appeared to have the edge in midfield and were able to double mark Richard Evans, though in the 22nd minute, Lee Fowler found the left-winger who was able to deliver a cross and CRAIG HUGHES took his chance well to volley County into a lead their general play did not merit.  The old saying that you are your most vulnerable when you have just scored a goal was shown to good effect though when from the kick-off Weston swept forward and forced another corner.  The need to pick up ROBERTSON should have been obvious but when Andy Gurney’s flag-kick was only partially cleared the Weston midfield man was free to volley the ball into the roof of the net from 10 yards.

Woodspring Stadium was housing its record attendance but the ground had a surreal feel to it with the large covered terrace accommodating no more than a hundred widely spread home fans who observed in near silence.  The visiting following which comprised the vast majority of the gate were largely cramped into the two open areas down the west side and behind the opposite goal, and they were too busy craning their necks to see what little action their side provided to be able to add much vocal support. 

The veteran Gurney, who was linked with a move to County last spring before he first joined Weston, was the most influential player on the pitch though Nathan Davies worked tirelessly to break up Weston’s midfield superiority.  Hopkins thought he had given Weston the lead in the 34th minute though he was clearly offside, but another home goal looked increasingly likely.  It arrived in the third minute of first half stoppage time when Lee Jarman conceded a free-kick close on 30 yards out.  The delivery of GURNEY was exquisite as his curling shot gave Thompson no chance and entered the net via the upper part of the post.

Clearly Beads needed to make changes but he waited until 10 minutes of the second half had elapsed before withdrawing both wide men, Simpson and Evans.  Strikers Griffin and Hughes moved out towards the flanks with the twin towers of Jermaine Clarke and Julian Alsop sent on to spearhead a four man attack.  It was not the sort of formation you would anticipate starting the game with, but necessity can be the mother of invention and immediately the balance of the game changed as Weston struggled to deal with the big men.  Ian Hillier was just the wrong side of the post with a header from close range but when Griffin had a shot charged down on 62 minutes, ALSOP kept his cool to drive home the rebound from around 12 yards.

The neat probing of Fowler was starting to make an impact and he set up a couple of chances for Griffin though Gurney continued to scare County with some quality long range efforts.  The game started to become heated though referee Ian Crouch, whose only previous experience of County was as a disappointed West Ham fan at Somerton almost 29 years ago in a famous cup upset, displayed excellent man management skills. 

Beads was forced to make another change when skipper Steve Jenkins was forced to withdraw on 83 minutes and Ashley Evans came on with the excellent Davies slotting in at right-back.  Then as the game drifted into injury time, Simon Heal handled a cross from the right and Mr Crouch, having checked it was inside the area awarded the spot-kick.  You almost expected the familiar figure of Bowen to appear from nowhere, but Griffin took the responsibility while Northmore took the plaudits for the save.  Charlie will get over the disappointment of not scoring the spot-kick and he was one of County’s better Boxing Day performers. 

Man of the Match: Weston: Andy Gurney (a thorn in County’s flesh throughout).

                                 County: Nathan Davies (exemplary display).

Special mention: Referee Ian Crouch – he appeared to enjoy the match, and with his two assistants did a fine job with a minimum of fuss.