McAuley red card costly for Bridport

Bridgwater Town 3: Bridport 2

BEES manager Bob Russell was convinced a referee's decision had been the deciding factor in their leaving Fairfax Park empty handed on Tuesday night, after playing most of the second half with 10 men.

Skipper Gary McAuley was red carded, somewhat harshly, after 60 minutes for a late tackle on Robins captain Marcus Vaughan.

Bridgwater took the upper hand in the early stages and were denied by keeper Martin Peters who on 10 minutes made a pointblank save from Robins' front man Justin Porter.

Peters was kept on his toes in a busy period for the Bees defence and made a couple of smart stops to deny pacy striker Chris Hughes.

Bridport were reduced to long-range efforts, but on 35 minutes Bees defender James O'Brien came forward for a throwin and caused confusion in the home side's defence, scoring with a smart drive following a deflected first effort.

Bridgwater equalised almost immediately when a long ball from the back found striker Chris Young through on goal. After the break, an early corner for the home side, driven in by Alex Stephens, saw the Bridgwater skipper rise above the defence to power in a header at the far post to make it 21.

The Bees responded and had their best spell of the game. A run down the right on 58 minutes from wing back Dan Taylor resulted in Lee Clark equalising through a crowded penalty area.

Following McAuley's dismissal, Bridgwater made the extra man tell and enjoyed a period of sustained possession. The Bees' defence was stretched when substitute Ollie Smith came from a deep position into space to fire an unstoppable drive past Peters into the far corner.

Russell said: "I was disappointed with the result but pleased with the performance and the way the team battled throughout. Although we probably didn't do enough to win the game, we did enough to take a point. The sending off definitely cost us and was a big turning point."

Bridport: Peters, Linney, O'Brien. Copeland, Clark, McAuley, Taylor, Ritchie, Hitchock, Cunningham, Gawen. Subs not used: Leach, Thomas, Hayter. Red card: McAuley (60). Att: 225