9:00am Wednesday 28th March 2012
By Adam Summers
Bridport 0 LARKHALL ATHLETIC 2
ADDING more firepower to his side is Trevor Senior’s number one priority at St Mary’s Field.
The Bridport boss is confident his men have finally found their feet in the Toolstation Western Premier Division but believes they need to possess more of a goal threat in order to kick on.
The Bees have found the net just 36 times in their 29 league games so far this season, which is the fifth lowest return in the league.
And with ex-Weymouth forward Sam Charles sidelined for the long term with a cruciate-ligament injury it is clear why a new striker is at the top of Senior’s shopping list.
He said: “We are definitely a stronger team now than we were the other side of Christmas.
“Rather than matching teams in just one half, we are competing for the full 90 minutes and now all we could do with is a few more goals.
“Nothing against the lads we have already but it is clear we need more options up front.
“With Sam out injured, Tom Richardson has been playing up there on his own and although he has been doing a good job, he could do with some support.
“However, finding a prolific goalscorer is the hardest thing in football at any level because it is what everyone is after, but it is exactly what we need to try and do to keep things moving forward.
“We are working hard and the spirit is there but until we get more goals in the side we are always going to find it tough to move further up the table.”
The Bees, who need five points from their remaining five games to guarantee safety, suffered a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of title contenders Larkhall Athletic on Saturday.
Once again Senior’s men competed well throughout but never really looked like finding the target against a Larks’ side that now sits just one point adrift of leaders Bitton.
Senior added: “Larkhall were not as good as I expected them to be but at the end of the day they are up there for a reason and they came here and did what they had to do.
“They had a big and dominant centre-half, who mopped up everything at the back, and a lively forward that was a constant threat, but to be fair we matched them throughout.
“Sam Filkins only really had one save to make and there were not many chances at either end.
“I was disappointed with their opening goal in the first half as I felt we could have defended it a lot better. A cross came in from the right, which we struggled to clear, and it allowed one of their lads to chest the ball down and toe poke an effort over Sam.
“The only other decent attempt they had came from long range.
“However, although we competed well, we did not create too much going forward with Dan Wise having our best effort from 30 yards after Chris Clarke and Chris Senior had combined to set him up.
“He caught it on the half-volley superbly but their keeper dived across and pushed it away.
“Had that flown in we might have gone on to get something but in the end they grabbed a second with three or four minutes to go as we pushed forward.
“It wasn’t the most eventful game and it was cagey throughout but even though we came out of it on the wrong end of a defeat I was satisfied with the overall performance.”
The Bees, who travel to third-placed Hallen this Saturday (3pm), remain 13th, 11 points above the drop-zone.
Bees: Filkins, Evans (Gale 72), C Clarke, J Charles, Hill, Hayter, Luke (Conning 72), Wise, Richardson, Senior (Gape 83), Legg.
Bees’ Man of the Match: Dan Wise Attendance: 127
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