By a quirk of the fixtures, the two teams met again. Last week, Warminster Town travelled to Bishops Lydeard and came away with a 2-0 victory. This time at a very windy Weymouth Street in front of 80 fans, it was honours even in a 2-2 draw.
Warminster was the more dominant side throughout the match and lying in second place in the league, and with the visitors second from the bottom, that should have been no surprise. In the 16th minute, Gardner’s shot was blocked by a defender. That was followed in the 22nd when Mortimer-Taylor saw his effort going just wide of the right-hand post. Three minutes later, Churchyard, with an 18-yard drive, forced the keeper into a low save in the centre of the goalmouth.
The home side opened the scoring (26′) with a goal from Eben Mortimer-Taylor. Miluk threaded a ball through to him on the edge of the penalty area; Mortimer-Taylor slipped past the defenders and shot from the right low into the left side of the net. The lead, however, did not last for long. A long cross from The Bishop’s right wasn’t cleared, and bouncing off the Warminster defender was met inside the 18-yard line by Sparkes, who left-footed it just past the outstretched left leg of Thomson on 30 minutes.
Lewis Graham restored Warminster’s lead 3 minutes later. Mortimer-Taylor crosses from the right; is chested down by Cockerill and picked up by Graham. Just inside the central part of the penalty area, Graham runs to the right, almost brought down by a defender, gets up, moves further right, and smashes the ball home. An excellent goal!
Mortimer-Taylor was red-carded just before the half-time whistle, leaving Warminster with ten men for the second half and a one-goal lead.
The home side started brightly, and Miluk almost made it three in the opening minute until a Bishop’s defender intercepted his shot from Graham’s cross. On 54′, Miluk went close again with an 18-yard strike going just over the crossbar.
The equaliser came in the 73rd minute. With a super long-range shot from the left, substitute Oscar Albano found the top of Thomson’s goal.
Even with ten men, Warminster still looked like going on to win the game but just missed out with several chances not going their way. A point still keeps Warminster Town in second place, and they now look forward to an away trip on Saturday to Portishead.
Team: Thomson, Pollock, Cockerill, Jeffery, Lisowski, Churchyard(s), Miluk, Mortimer-Taylor(red card), Graham, Bartley(s), Gardner(s)
Subs Used: Seviour, Sheppard, McKay
Subs Unused: De Silva