BRIDPORT RESERVES 3 HAMWORTHY REC 1

THE Bees laid to rest the ghosts of their 7-0 drubbing by Hamworthy Recreation in August by knocking the same opponents out of the Dorset Senior Trophy on Saturday.

Bridport’s second-round victory at St Mary’s Field, the scene of that Dorset Premier League mauling earlier in the campaign, came courtesy of goals from Matt Condliffe, Tom Blair and Josh Baker.

For boss Shaun Annetts, who took over from Robin Townsend at the end of last season, the two games against Rec this term represent his worst and best moments in the job to date.

“That defeat in August was very embarrassing for me and the club,” he said. “It is probably the lowest point that I’ve had as manager of the team.

“But the result on Saturday, and the way we performed, is probably the highlight of my time in charge.

“I was thrilled with everything we did on the day, and I thought we thoroughly deserved to win.”

With Ashley Weeks declaring himself fit to keep goal, the hosts made a great start on a very soft pitch in west Dorset.

Dan Peach and Harry Fleet shone in midfield and the former beat a couple of defenders before teeing up Condliffe to drill a superb shot past the Rec gloveman.

But the visitors levelled things up when the Bees didn’t deal with a corner properly and Weeks was beaten.

“We were full of confidence at half-time but still wary of them,” added Annetts. “They won the league last season and are top of the table at the moment.

“But we had a very positive attitude in the second half and got a deserved second goal after about an hour.”

Blair, Condliffe, Peach and Baker were involved in the move which ended with the first of the quartet making it 2-1.

Then, 10 minutes later, Condliffe was scythed down just outside the box, Sam Day’s free-kick was saved, but Baker reacted quickest to head in the rebound.

Although Rec were reduced to 10 men after that they still applied pressure in the closing stages.

However, the Bridport defence held firm and Weekes wasn’t troubled too much.

“With the way we played on the day I think we would have given most teams in our division a good game,” said Annetts.

“Matt Condliffe ran himself into the ground up front and Dan Peach and Harry Fleet were outstanding in the middle of the park."

“The work the guys have done in training is really paying dividends and hopefully we can take this result into our next league game.”

Bees: Weeks, Herbst, Stordy, King, Day, Jones, Blair, Peach (S Gale 75), Fleet, Baker (Scovell 80), Condliffe (G Bulman 70). Sub not used: L Annetts