Stitch2Print Devon & Exeter League premier division: Clyst Valley 2, Wellington Reserves 2
In their first game for more than three weeks, our Reserves had to dig deep to earn a point at Clyst Valley.
Ben Evett.
Manager Mark Owen was able to take a full squad down to Exeter but, with the pitch being very heavy, it was always going to be difficult for both teams.
Wellington made the better start to the game, creating chances in the first 20 minutes without being able to make the breakthrough they deserved.
On 25 minutes, the visitors took the lead through a penalty, awarded when Ollie Ackland was fouled racing into the box, with Ben Evett striking the kick low into the corner of the net.
With Wellington now in control of the game and the home team creating very little, it was not long before they took a 2-0 lead. Evett received the on the the edge of the area and, as he ran across the box, he hit a low shot past the keeper.
With the game approaching half-time it was turned on its head when Wellington keeper Charlie Hawkings was shown a red card and sent off.
Hawkings had raced out his area to clear and, as the Clyst forward got to the ball first, it flew up and hit his shoulder. With a Wellington defender then clearing the ball, the referee judged the keeper had made a forward movement with his arm and made the decision to send him off.
Defender Connor Noble took over the gloves and Wellington just had to see out the last five minutes until Owen could reshape the team for the second half.
But, in injury time, Clyst pulled a goal back with a suspicion of offside as their forward raced clear to slot the ball past Noble to make it 2-1 at half-time.
Wellington started the second half with Tom Davies coming on to play at right-back and Jack Bryant having to play a lone striker role.
Clyst started to create the better chances but the Wellington defence, led by Sam Bryant and Connor Pengelly, held firm and protected the 2-1 lead.
However, with ten minutes remaining, the home team found an equaliser when a player turned on the edge of the box and hit a low shot which crept past the diving Noble.
Wellington held out the remaining ten minutes, showing great team spirit with a man down for the whole second half, as the game ended 2-2.
The hard-earned point sees the Reserves fourth in the table which you can see by CLICKING HERE.
Team: Charlie Hawkings, Wes Poulsom, Connor Noble, Sam Bryant, Connor Pengelly, Sam Poole, Ollie Ackland, Luke Perry, Ben Evett, Rohan Poulsom, Jack Bryant. Substitutes: Tom Davies, Elijah Hillier, Ned Ogilvie (used); Mark Owen, James Beatty (not used).
