Bristol Manor Farm 3 Winchester City 3

Bristol Manor Farm 3 Winchester City 3
A second yellow card and sending-off for Farm’s Jack Durrant midway through
the second half changed the complexion of this otherwise entertaining curtain-
raiser at The Creek. Farm were looking good value for their 2-1 lead at that
point but the numeric advantage to the visitors began to show as the game
entered its latter stages – allowing them to claw back to 3-3 and earn their first
point against Farm in five Southern League encounters.
Manor Farm took the lead within the game’s first ten minutes when Lewis
Bamford kept his feet well when dribbling into the area, turning inside a
defender and slotting coolly wide of the ‘keeper.
The visitors drew level on twenty minutes when Farm ‘keeper Ben
John missed the ball entirely in a one-on-one allowing Simba Mlambo to tap
into an empty net from 18 yards.
Farm’s young right-back Tyler Ashmead then made a crucial block to deny
Mlambo a second and just before the half-hour mark Bamford restored The
Portwaymen’s lead when he won the ball back on the right, drove into the box
and drilled low into the corner for his brace.
Farm continued to press well in the second half – looking the more likely team
to win – especially when they took a 3-1 lead in the 72 nd minute just after
Durrant’s unfortunate red. Substitute Joe Tumelty won a free-kick on the edge
of the penalty area, then stepped up to rifle home via a slight deflection.
Three minutes later Winchester’s sub Oli Bailey kept his side in the game when
he got across his defender to meet a good cross from the left, volleying home
from six yards out.
With just over ten minutes to go The Citizens got a dramatic equaliser when
Ben John again missed out in a one-on-one with Mlambo, the Winchester
forward scoring into an empty net for the second time in the game.
STAR MAN (Lewis Bamford, Bristol Manor Farm)