The first home game of the new year saw the arrival of high flying Radstock Town to Weymouth Street. The home side conceded an early goal but did equalize in the first half. A spirited second-half performance from Warminster was undone by a second goal from The Miners, giving them all 3 points in front of 152 fans.
Radstock’s first goal came in the 11th minute, a ball dropping into the penalty area was met by the head of Radstock’s James Rustell, the ball looped over keeper Nathan Ball and nestled into the back of his net. Warminster’ s equaliser came in the 22nd minute. A long ball from a free-kick quickly taken by Ball found Jack Miluk who ran at the defence up to the edge of the ‘D’. He crossed the ball to James Vincent on his left who used his left foot to level the score with a low drive into the back of the net.
Minutes later Radstock went close on two occasions. The first hit Ball’s left post and the keeper fell onto the rebound to cut out the danger. The second called for Ball to make a fine save when a free kick is taken just inside Warminster’s which bounced in the penalty area and was heading under the crossbar. There was also a notable goal-line clearance by Lewis Graham in the 38th minute which kept the scores level in this very entertaining first half. On 45 minutes though, the action was at the other end of the pitch when Vincent turned and shot, the keeper fumbled the save, but managed to catch the ball on the second attempt as the shot wasn’t powerful enough to evade him.
The second-half saw Warminster create a first-minute opening chance with halftime substitute Allen’s shot saved by the keeper, Scrivens diving high to his right to prevent the ball from going in at the top left corner. Radstock doubled their lead in the 51st minute with a goal from a tight angle on the left and buried in the right-hand corner of the goal.
Warminster did go on to create more chances and so did Radstock which continued to make this game good to watch, especially for the neutral. The visitors did go down to 10-men when a second yellow card saw the defender Walker-Wiltshire dismissed. The home side tried hard to make the extra man count but when presented with opportunities were unable to make them count. The game though a disappointing result from Warminster’s viewpoint was a good advert for non-league football and that it can provide excitement for football fans wishing to support local clubs.
Team: Ball, Churchyard, Barnes, Graham, De Silva, Pawley, Miluk, Mortimer-Taylor, Fletcher*, Vincent*, Shanley*
Subs (used*) Johnson*, Allen*, McKay*