Bridport 0 CADBURY HEATH 2

TOM Richardson is back in training with the Bees but is unlikely to return to action until the New Year.

The ex-Weymouth man has been sidelined for several months with a virus and Bridport boss Trevor Senior is delighted to see him back on his feet.

He said: “Tom did the warm-up in last Saturday’s game against Cadbury Heath and will be training with us this week. It is great to see him back and we have pencilled in his return to action for January.

“Sam Charles is also making good progress and could be back in February but his brother Joe and Lee Cleal have only just had their operations so they still have a long slog ahead of them.”

Another player sidelined at the moment is Chris Clarke. Senior added: “Chris has a blood clot in his thigh and we are just hoping that it doesn’t need cutting out.

“He is a big player for us and it is only when he is out that people really realise just how important he is.”

Last weekend the Bees worked hard throughout against second-placed Heath but lacked the cutting edge in the final third, particularly after top-scorer Ryan Dovell was forced off with a groin problem before the break.

Senior added: “For most of the first half we were very much in the game but ended up coming in 1-0 down. We caused them one or two problems early on and had a couple of good chances.

“Ryan Dovell slid one just wide and there were half chances as well but they then took the lead after a bit of mistake from Shane Evans.

“It was one of those where he tried to take it down instead of just heading it away and he ended up getting caught.

“They still had quite a bit to do after that to score but it is something Shane can learn from because apart from that I thought he had a decent game.”

Going on to comment on Dovell’s exit, Senior went on to add: “He tweaked his groin in the warm-up but thought it would be okay but in the end we were forced to bring him off.

“It was a bit of a blow but I still thought we would go out in the second half and really take the game to them but it never materialised.

“Instead we ended up containing them before they eventually got another one with 10 minutes remaining.

“I couldn’t fault the work-rate again but no one was able to step up and make something happen, which was a bit frustrating and something we need to work on.”

The Bees, who travel to table-toppers Brislington on Saturday in the Les Phillips Cup, now sit 14th in the Toolstation Western Premier Division, just three points above the bottom three.

Bees: S Filkins, J Filkins, Morgan (Condliffe 55), S Buckler, Evans (G Bulman 70), Hayter, M Buckler, Wise, Dovell (Ritchie 35), B Clarke, Luke.

Bees’ Man of the Match: Ryan Hayter Attendance: 114