Lock critical after Bees gift Portishead

9:55am Monday 28th April 2008

DISENCHANTED caretaker-boss Mark Lock highlighted another toxic dose of defensive blunders that contributed to Bridport's comfortable 3-1 defeat at Portishead in their penultimate Toolstation Western League match of the season.

Lock watched on critically as his players conceded three preventable goals which, coupled with a lack of bite and potency up front, gifted the mid-table Somerset side the spoils in a match where only pride was at stake.

I was very disappointed with the performance and we got what we deserved as we were outplayed and out-thought,'' said Lock.

They were better than us in every department and rolled up their sleeves throughout, and in the second half we didn't turn up at all.'' The Bees safely negotiated the opening salvo but were caught flat-footed by a defence-splitting ball over the top after 20 minutes and a deft lob past onrushing keeper Lee Cleal found the net.

Bridport battled back however and equalised almost immediately when Dan Wise profited from a scrappy move and unleashed a shot that evaded the hosts' keeper and nestled in the corner.

Chances became sparse but Ashley Clarke spurned a glorious opportunity to edge his side ahead shortly into the second half in the visitors' best move of the match.

Once again, playmaker Wise was instrumental and following crisp passing deep in Portishead's territory, he whipped in a teasing cross that Clarke reached but could only shoot over the crossbar when it seemed easier to score.

This glaring miss proved crucial and was compounded only five minutes later when the hosts scored their second goal to gain a priceless lead.

Another long ball into the box was insufficiently handled and after a ricochet, Russell Legg, shepherding an attacker out wide, was adjudged by the referee to have fouled despite contact being at best minimal.

Contentious though it was, the spot-kicker had no hesitation in taking full advantage and converted accordingly by sending Cleal the wrong way.

Stunned by this apparent injustice, Bridport couldn't mount a comeback and instead slipped further adrift thanks to another calamitous defensive error.

Cottoning on to their opponents' susceptibility to long balls, Portishead thumped one downfield and Bridport's failure to clear their lines prompted a foul from Paul Fellows in a vulnerable position on the edge of the box.

Eighteen yards out and central to the goal, the free kick was exquisitely struck into the top corner and represented a classy way for the hosts to seal three points.

Bees: Cleal, McClements, Fellows, Stewart, Hayter, Churchill, D Lock, Legg, Condliffe, Wise, Clarke.

Attendance: 64.

Man of the Match (sponsored by Bridport Co-Op): Paul Fellows.