SALTASH UNITED 5

BRIDPORT 0

BRIDPORT sank to a 5-0 defeat in Cornwall as a youthful Saltash United claimed a deserved 5-0 win from their Toolstation Western League Premier Division encounter.

The Bees, who have struggled all season, saw Josh Baker sent off with little over 10 minutes remaining for a reckless tackle on the Ashes’ Tim Harris.

Baker had earlier been responsible for one of the Bees’ brighter moments of the game when he forced keeper Ryan Rickard into a good save.

Mike Hill also troubled Rickard but the hosts established a 2-0 lead at half-time courtesy of the in-form Reece Johnson, whose brace took him to a tally of six goals in three games.

Bridport cleared a Thompson shot off the line in the 40th minute and gallantly held on until midway through the second half before Reece Brown scored his first Saltash goal.

READ MORE: Bridport 0-4 Keynsham Town - match report

Saltash, who fielded five under-18 players, went 4-0 up through a Dave Barker header before Baker was booked for a second time on 79 minutes.

And Alex Cairo added a fifth deep into stoppage-time to stretch Bridport’s goal difference to minus 80 after 20 games.

Post-match, Bees’ boss Rob Marquis said: “I can’t say we conceded goals from (not) retaining the ball up front.

“But then you still ship five goals.

“I felt we weren’t tracking back enough, losing the ball in certain areas and perhaps not working hard enough to win it back.

“We had a good chat at half-time and went out for the first 20 minutes of the second half – the lads actually competed.

“We were giving a good account of ourselves and got the ball in the box a bit more.

“Then they’ve ended up scoring and that really, really killed us. You could just see the body language: ‘Here we are again’ and all the rest of it.

“It was such a shame because we were engaging well. The third goal in a 2-0 game is massive. If we concede, we’re finished – and we conceded.”

Bees: Taylor, Hawker, A Steele, Baker, Baggs, Owen, Boulton (Fry 67), McAllister (Carlile 78), Arnold, Hill, Greenwood-Neate.

Attendance: 144