Tag: Bristol Telephones

Warminster Town 2 Bristol Telephones 1

After Saturday’s deserved point at home to Tytherington Rocks, Warminster Town welcomed Bristol Telephones to Weymouth Street. On a chilly evening, the lowly Phones made Town work hard, but the hosts prevailed, winning 2-1.

The first 20 minutes were fairly dull; apart from Warminster forcing a few corners, it wasn’t exactly a classic opening 20 minutes. However, Warminster drew first blood on 23 minutes. A fantastic run from Corey Gardner opened up the Phones’ defence and squared for an unmarked Max Wyatt, who, from two yards out and into an open net, slotted the hosts into the lead.

The Phones, who had their game called off at the weekend, began to grow into the game, and that paid off when a ball through the town defence was latched onto by Archie Dark, who calmly slotted the visitors level. It would remain 1-1 at halftime.

The second half also started slowly, with the first notable incident happening in the 60th minute. A shot at Warminster’s goal was saved by Sam Thomson, who safely gathered at the second attempt. Spencer Dymond-Hall tried his luck, but the only thing stopping him from scoring was the Phones keeper, Joe Pople, who produced an outstanding save to keep the scores level.

Jakob Seviour made way for Chay Forrester to make his debut. Soon after, in the 76th minute, an almighty goal-mouth scramble resulted in Jon Bazley, the central defender, scoring what turned out to be the winner. Seb Hounsell, Braden Humphreys, Toby Worts and DJ Wheeler were all introduced later in the game, as Warminster, who dominated the second half, made it another 3 points and are now 15th in the table.

Huge credit to the players and management team over the last few weeks for putting in performances and grinding out results after so many changes. Man of the match was Lewis Graham, for another solid captain’s performance.

Team: Thomson, Harbour-Burgess, Dymond-Hall, Graham, Bazley, Rogers, Gardner(s), Mortimer-Taylor(s), Cassidy(s), Seviour(s), Wyatt(s)

Subs: (all used) Humphreys, Wheeler, Hounsell, Forrester, Worts

Match report: Liam Spurrier

Warminster Town 3 Bristol Telephones 0

With no more home games for a month, Warminster was looking to please the home crowd of 140 with an entertaining football game. The home side was undoubtedly playing better than in recent games. There was more movement and passing throughout the game. Bristol Telephones caused several heart-stopping moments for the home side’s fans but failed to put the ball in the back of the net. The goals for Warminster Town all came in the second half and sealed a 3-0 win.

Both sides had opportunities to score in the opening half and saw shots go just wide of the uprights and, in several instances, well over the bar. The trees along Weymouth Street were struck several times to prevent the ball from rolling down the hill towards Morrisons!

In the 5th minute, Graham shot just wide of the left post, and 3 minutes later, so did Miluk. In the 24th minute, Miluk once again fired just wide of the same post. This was the last effort he would have due to injury, and he was substituted for Gardner on the half-hour mark.  Ten minutes before the end of normal time, Lewis Graham had another shot go agonisingly wide, this time of the right post. Fortunately, a free-kick on 45+4 by Bristol Telephones went wide of Thomson’s goal. This first half, although goalless, was entertaining with shots from both sides enough to draw gasps of breath from the supporters.

The second-half resumed, and on 49 minutes, Gardner clean through on goal watched his effort bounce off the upright. Once again, though, Bristol Telephones created chances, and in the 65th minute, another opportunity went just wide of Warminster’s goal post. 

McKay came on as a sub, and shortly after, he burst down the left-wing, cut into the box and found Graham, whose shot found the right side of the net (68mins). Due to a couple of injuries, there would be quite an amount of additional time to play. On 93 minutes, a free-kick from Jeffery was flicked on by McKay towards the goal. Wain rushed in and headed home at close range.

The third goal was courtesy of a penalty when Wain once again on the attack made space to shoot and was brought down. Up stepped the ever-reliable penalty taker, Ian Jeffery, and he made it a 95th-minute goal, blasting the ball down the middle to beat the keeper.

With all rival teams winning on the day, the positions for all top four teams remain the same, with Warminster Town retaining second place. They will face the league leader, Sherborne Town, on Saturday, March 19th. This will be a massive game for both sides, who drew 0-0 last time.

Team: Thomson, Pollock, Humphreys, Jeffery, De Silva, Miluk(s), Seviour, Graham, Vincent(s)

Subs: (used) Gardner, McKay

(unused) McFerran, Mortimer-Taylor

Bristol Telephones v Warminster Town

On a day that two leading contenders in division one faced each other meant there was a possibility that Warminster Town, with a win, could go top of the table. Warminster travelled to Bristol Telephones, whilst Welton Rovers entertained Sherborne Town. A draw at Welton would have made a winning Warminster go to the top. Warminster played their part, winning 0-3 at The Phones. In a close game at Welton, Sherborne scored a late goal to give them a 1-2 win and place them at the top of the table, and Warminster moved second place a point behind.

Over at Bristol Telephones, the wind made playing conditions difficult, but the two teams produced an entertaining football match. Most of the early opportunities fell to the visitors, and throughout the game, The Phones failed to get many shots on the Town’s goal.

Miluk and Seviour had strikes that went just wide of the post in the game’s opening minutes. In the 10th minute, the keeper saved Mortimer-Taylor’s shot, fumbled but managed to hold on at the second attempt before he pounced again. There was good work in this match between Martin Johnson and Jack Miluk. On 28 minutes, Johnson’s cross from the left only just avoided Miluk’s rising head in the 6-yard box, and somehow it remained goalless. 

Both teams pressed, and with 5 minutes of the half to go, Seviour shot just wide with a long-range shot. Would the ball go into the net? A minute later, Jeffery’s long pass found Miluk on the right, who burst into the box. Miluk passed to Johnson, who, positioned in the 6-yard box, was able to fire home the opening goal. 

Two minutes later, Ian Jeffrey took a corner from The Phones left. His in-swinger beat everyone and found its way into the top-left of the home team’s goal. A devastating blow for Bristol Telephones at the end of this first half. 

Within seconds of the start of the second half, Bristol Telephones had an opportunity to score; however, the ever-alert keeper, Thomson, caught the ball without much trouble. 

Eben Mortimer-Taylor, ten minutes in, forced the keeper into a save by his right post to cut out the powerful low drive. Mortimer-Taylor had several more opportunities to score, and the keeper did well to prevent the goals. The third goal came in the 72nd minute. Johnson got his brace by shooting low from 12-yards out, courtesy of Miluk’s cross from the edge of the 18-yard box having run along the byline. 

The Phones came closest to scoring in the 85th minute and forced Thomson to produce another one of his fine saves.

In summary, another good performance under challenging conditions for Warminster Town and a solid defence stood their ground, restricting the opposition to very few chances.

Team: Thomson, Pollock, Cockerell(s), Jeffery, De-Silva, Humphrey, Miluk, Mortimer-Taylor, Johnson(s) M, Bartley(s), Seviour

Subs: (used) Churchyard, Wain, Vincent

Subs: (unused) McKay, Gardner

Warminster Town 2 – Bristol Telephones 3

Super Size Crowd at Warminster Town

On what turned out to be a very wet Saturday evening on Ground-Hopper Day, 369 braved the weather including many ground-hoppers coming to Warminster for the first time. The spectators were entertained with a 5 goal thriller, a sending-off, missed chances, good saves and the ball crashing against the posts. The final score Warminster Town 2 – Bristol Telephones 3.

Bristol Telephones showed good pace up front and the early warning signs were there for Warminster to see. Balls were being played through the home sides defence for The Phones forwards to run on to. This did not appear to be a team who have only managed one point all season. The visitors breakthrough came on 14 minutes when a cross from the right was not dealt with by the Warminster defence and fell to Luke Barnfield who brought it down with his left foot and with his second touch left-footed it into the right-hand corner. 

Nathan Ball was called into action a number of times to prevent more goals from The Phones in the first thirty minutes as Warminster continued to rock under the attack from the team in blue. O’Neil and Barnfield for The Phones paired up well and were creating many chances and deserved to have scored more. 

Warminster’s first goal came in the 31st minute when from a Phones corner Allen ran with the ball down the left-wing, passed inside to Shanley who then played in Miluk. Miluk beat 2 defenders on the edge of the D and fired home past the keeper. 

Two minutes later Butler down the left passed a long ball to Vincent who beats the defenders on the left of goal and made sure of hitting the target.

In the final minute of the half, Francois Allen received a red card, and at the time most in the crowd away from the action had thought he was being sin-binned for 10 minutes.

The second-half now started and Warminster with a 2 – 1 lead had some work to do with just 10 men on the pitch. Bristol Telephones 3 minutes into the half found number 11, Golding who tapped the ball home. The third goal for The Phones was in the 59th minute when Barnfield scored his second made all too easy by the home side. 

Despite being down to 10 men Warminster created chances but couldn’t either get them on target or were saved by the Phones keeper. Likewise, the visitors went close several times in a real end to end battle between the two teams. It was a game for the neutrals to enjoy who came along as ground-hoppers and made it worth getting thoroughly wet from all the rain.

After the game, Warminster’s manager, Andy Crabtree had this to say: “Obviously over the moon with the attendance of 369 it created a great atmosphere. More importantly, I’m very disappointed with the result and losing at home once again. At 2-1 we in the driving seat and the sending off just before half time had a big impact on the game. 

We didn’t defend very well all night and it proved our undoing. I can’t fault the effort the lads put in but it’s something we need to address as it has happened far too frequently for my liking. We have a tough FA Vase game next Saturday and it’s important that we learn from those mistakes, bounce back and show a bit of character if we are to kick on for the remainder of the season.”

Team: Ball, Baggs*, Barnes*, Allen (red card), De Silva, Lisowski, Miluk, Walton, Vincent*, Butler, Shanley

Subs (used*) Mcferran*, Johnson*, Mortimer-Taylor*  

Ninth Home Win in a Row

When a bottom of the table team fighting for league survival is your opponent there is always that element of danger. It’s important not to take league position for granted and get caught out. Saturday’s opponents, Bristol Telephones sitting at the bottom of the division proved to be good opposition and played better than their league status would indicate. Warminster though wanted to continue their great run of home form and winning this match would make it 9 home wins in a row.

In glorious spring sunshine, a crowd of 109 would enjoy a good entertaining football match which shows what good value non-league football is in the Toolstation Western League. The final score in this entertaining game was Warminster Town 4 Bristol Telephones 0. This is how the game unfolded.

Warminster started very brightly with a high-intensity game, that in previous games had been missing until the second half. In the first 15 minutes, the home side had several chances including one in the sixth minute when Harry Barnes forced the keeper, Guest, into making a fine save, tipping the ball over the bar. Despite being bottom of the table The Phones played a good passing game and probably one of the best passing sides to be seen at Weymouth Street for a while. However, Warminster managed them well and worked hard to break up the passing by harrying their players whenever they had the ball.

For much of the first half, the home side pegged the visitors very much in their own half and limited them to very few opportunities to get anywhere near Nathan Ball’s goal giving him a much quieter day than in the last match against Radstock Town. The first goal came in the 29th minute following good work from Miluk, Mortimer-Taylor and Butler which resulted in a cross across the box and Jake Wright poked the ball home in the left-hand side of the goal.

4 minutes later a corner on the right was taken by Mortimer-Taylor and met by the head of Lewis Graham rising high and making it 2 – 0 to Warminster. The third goal came in the 40th minute when Butler making a terrific run on the left wing, squared the ball to Wright who then was able to fire home in the left-hand side of the goal. This made it 4 goals out of the last 3 games for Wright and well deserved for the effort he puts into each game.

At half-time, Jack Miluk returning from injury was substituted for Jake Herd. Captain Charlie Walton was also substituted early in the second-half for Stewart Lisowski. Lewis Graham in 63rd minute went close to making it 4 when he shot from the left almost along the byline and the ball ricocheted off the left-hand post, it first looked as though the keeper had punched it clear, however, a goal kick was awarded showing that it was the post that prevented a goal.

On 70 minutes a corner from the right for the home side was met by Johnson who got too much on the ball resulting in it going over the bar. 4 minutes later the fourth goal came when a ball through the centre put Wright through on goal. Wright with just the keeper to beat unselfishly squared the ball to Eben Mortimer-Taylor to slot the ball home. Warminster did not rest on their lead and continued to press throughout the rest of the match and created 4 good chances. The first two from Mortimer-Taylor one saved and the other over the bar, with two minutes to go, Butler, forced a saved and a minute later Graham did likewise.

This was a very solid performance by Warminster Town and places them in a good position to make a push for a top 5 place at the end of the season and confidence is high with 9 home wins in a row. This has been a wonderful turnaround in form compared to last season when as manager Andy Crabtree said on Twitter (@andythecrab) “last season we couldn’t win a corner!”. Andy’s comments after the game, “Really pleased with today’s performance. We played some good football on a very difficult surface. We’ve created a lot of chances and it’s good to see the lads enjoying themselves once again.”

Next game is away on Saturday, April 6th at Oldland Abbotonians and the next home game is on Saturday, April 13th when the visitors will be Bishop Sutton and perhaps making this a 10th home win in a row for The Red & Blacks.