Keynsham Town vs Bradford

Keynsham Town 0-1 Bradford Town
Western League Division One
AJN Stadium
1/03/14

In a close fought game the league leaders found the winning goal with just 16 minutes played and made sure they held on to this slim lead until the end. The Keynsham team made sure they kept the league’s top goal scorer quiet and were unlucky not to find the net themselves in the first half.

The game started with a very cautious approach from both teams and took a while to get going. Bradford used the long ball a lot to feed their quick strikers and had their first real attack with just 6 minutes played. King was played through with a long ball up field and crossed for Jordan but Matthew Dunk did well to come off this line to meet the ball well. It was only another 10 minutes before Bradford found the break through though; via a dubious free-kick. King lofted the ball into the area with Jordan missing a free header only for the whole of the Keynsham defence to watch the ball bounce with Gingell, up from the back, to react quickest and poke the ball home.

The K’s responded well to this set back and had three chances in quick succession starting on 18 minutes. Ryan Ashwood gambled on a long ball with Gingell leaving it to bounce, which enabled Ashwood to beat his marker, Gilbert, to get to the byline to deliver a great ball to Pat Davison inside the 6 yard box. However Davison could only manage to hit his first time shot against Porter in the Bradford goal and the rebound headed out for a corner. A minute later Sam Roberts crossed the ball in but Davison’s header was saved and a moment after that Davison’s turn and shot was saved again in a busy few minutes for the Bradford keeper.

Jordan had a golden chance to make it league goal 49 for the season with 27 minutes played. Played in via a long ball the on rushing Dunk slipped leaving the goal gapping for the in form striker but his first time shot went wide of the near post. Two minutes later a ball in from the left caused confusion between Dunk and Ben Stiff. The ball the fell to Hulbert but the midfielder could only hit his shot against the underside of the bar and it bounced clear. Bradford had one more decent chance to double their lead with a Hulbert free-kick finding the head of Evans but he couldn’t get his header right and the score stayed 1-0 to Bradford at half time.

The game almost took a nasty turn as there was altercations between the Bradford bench and Dunk as they went in for half time. This came after Thomas Bannerman-Williams was being singled out for every challenge after being booked in an attempt to send the player off. However the referee stayed strong and even booked Hulbert for simulation after the played dived to try and con the ref into showing Thomas an early to an early shower.

Thankfully the game was less heated in the second half and the large crowd was treated to a great half of football with each team going all out for a vital goal. Just three minutes in King broke the offside trap for Bradford only to find his pass to Jordan was a little too strong and went out of play. Steve Cains saw a need for a change and brought on young Lewis Morgan for some more pace on the wing with 50 minutes played which stretched the slow Bradford backline. This almost paid dividends five minutes later with Keynsham’s best chance of the second half. Davison knocked the ball down for Ashwood who’s well struck shot was brilliantly saved one handed by Porter.

Dunk was the busier of the two keepers in the second half though with Bradford reduced to shooting from distance for much of the half with both teams counter attacking. On 73 minutes he produced a great diving save to keep Keynsham in the game. Paul Ewins came on for the tiring Josh Rice who put in a great display working hard on the left hand side. The last five minutes saw Keynsham attacking a lot more but Bradford were still dangerous on the break.

Seb Spiller had a good chance from a corner but couldn’t keep his shot down with just two minutes left. Then Bradford sub Fowler saw his fierce shot fizz wide from distance on 90 minutes. A moment later it was Dunk’s turn for a one handed save from Jordan with Stiff following up well to clear the ball off the line. Deep into injury time Fowler had a chance to double the lead after he was played clean through but he tried to chip Dunk but got it all wrong with the referee blowing up straight after.

Keynsham can hold their heads high after that performance as Bradford, once they got the goal, looked content to play for the 1-0 win. This is great credit to a well organised Keynsham side who they found hard to break down with the ball on the deck. The lads are away in Devizes on Tuesday night any support would be welcomed.

Keynsham: Matthew Dunk, Elliot Coles, Sam Roberts, Seb Spiller, Ben Stiff, Thomas Bannerman-Williams, Szymon Gromek, Luke Lipinski, Pat Davison, Ryan Ashwood, Josh Rice

Subs used: Lewis Morgan (50mins for Bannerman-Williams), Paul Ewins (79mins for Rice)

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