BOROUGHBRIDGE 2 WETHERBY ATHLETIC 0
Bridge looked lively from the start and after creating a couple of half chances they had the best opportunity of the opening exchanges as Paul Eagling latched on to an incisive through ball from Nick Murphy only to see his effort  slide of the upright with James Senior a spectator. Within minutes the visitors created a similar situation when Brian Blewitt’s pass split the home defence with a Steve Tovey’s goal line clearance initially denying Gavin Evans and when Evans returned the ball across goal Jack Crowley was wide with his header. Bridge, generally though, looked the more threatening and on 36 minutes Danny Webster linked with Paul Vincent for the latter to put in a superb cross with the usually reliable Ollie Uffindall missing the target from 8 yards out. A last ditch tackle from Andy Haigh then blocked a Martin Hutchinson effort and Wetherby finished the half with successive corners. Within a minute of the restart Murphy and Uffindall combined to no avail and on 50 minutes Alastair Hogg saved a Tom Dickinson effort after a rare breakdown in communication in the home defence. As Bridge increased the pressure Marcus Philpott and Uffindall were both wide and subsequently Murphy beat Senior with a 20 yard free kick that rattled the bar but the Wetherby keeper quickly regained his composure to scramble away Uffindall’s header from the rebound. Webster then tried his luck from 20 yards out but again Senior got down well and just when the visitors looked to have weathered the storm Murphy and Uffindall linked up again for the latter to hit home the opener on 69 minutes. Wetherby were now forced to come out of their defensive shell and Bridge had a few nervy moments, for the most part self inflicted, before Hutchinson settled the issue when he fired in the second eight minutes from time. The visitors had a final fling with Mike Large having his shot blocked by a Stu Henry tackle and Crowley heading over but then lost all chance of getting anything out of the match as Haigh got his marching order for a second bookable offence which was exacerbated by Senior’s dismissal two minutes from time.
MOM NICK MURPHY