From the Clevedon Town site:
CLEVEDON TOWN (2) V EXMOUTH TOWN (3) - MATCH REPORT
By Paul Davis
CLEVEDON TOWN 2 EXMOUTH TOWN 3
The Seasiders were somewhat unfortunate to lose to a stunning late Exmouth goal when it looked for a long time like this would be the second two-all draw between the sides this season. With Luca Smith still injured and Jack Goodall and Ollie Babington unavailable, Charles Lovell continued in goal and Elliot Nicholson and Sam Iles returned to the side
For the second week running there was a biting wind and Clevedon were quickly into their stride. Cameron Salmon picked out Mitch Osmond, but his shot went over and then Salmon’s low cross just evaded Freddie King. When Alex Camm was tripped just inside the box on 7 minutes the referee pointed straight to the spot only for Osmond see his accurate penalty well saved by visiting keeper Robbie Powell low to his left.
Shortly after Exmouth created a good chance when Max Gillard’s cross held up in the wind and Elliot Nicholson did well to block the first shot with Ace High firing over from the rebound. From the goal-kick Clevedon took the lead when Salmon played a great ball through to Freddie King who went past his marker and beat Powell with the aid of a small deflection after 10 minutes. Clevedon could have doubled their lead almost straightaway when Salmon put Ethan Feltham in, but this time Powell made the save.
Exmouth thought they had equalised on 15 minutes when another cross was carried over the Clevedon defence by the wind and Ace High headed into the roof of the net only to see the Assistant’s flag raised for offside. But Clevedon failed to heed the danger and the equaliser arrived 3 minutes later in the visitor’s next attack. Aaron Denny’s shot came back off keeper Lovell’s chest and Jordan Harris was left with the simple task of slotting the rebound into the open net.
Exmouth now started to dominate, and Ben Steer got round the back, but Callum Kingdon was on hand to clear and was then prominent as a series of Exmouth corners that kept Clevedon pinned back. Just after the half hour Josh Cann cut in from wide left and Lovell produced a good save from his shot. But on 38 minutes Exmouth finally took the lead when Dan Cullen headed clear a dangerous Freddie King cross and Exmouth seized on the ball in midfield and the unmarked Ace High’s shot took a deflection and looped high over Lovell into the top corner.
But the main talking point of the half was a ball fired into the box which hit the raised hand of a defender and this time the Referee waved play on. Afterwards Manger Alex White gave an honest assessment of the incident saying, ‘It was a key moment in the game and in the Premier League it would have been given because the defender’s arm was in an unnatural position. But it happened very quickly and if the referee has any doubt, he can’t give it with no VAR technology at our level.’
Clevedon needed a quick response in the second half, and they got it 2 minutes in, when Salmon dribbled his way into the box and slipped the ball past Powell for 2-2. Shortly after Feltham pulled-up chasing a long ball and was replaced by Syd Camper. Just after the hour Callum Shipton fired over for Exmouth before Clevedon found themselves up against ten men when Dave Rowe was sin binned. But despite dominating, the Seasiders couldn’t take advantage of the extra man and when Rowe returned to the action Exmouth grabbed the lead on the break. Aaron Denny cut in from wide on the left and smashed the ball into the roof beyond Lovell’s despairing leap into the top corner to put the visitors 3-2 ahead with 13 minutes left.
Clevedon might have equalised when Powell tipped a long shot from Camm round the post on 83 minutes, but they could have been further behind when the referee awarded Exmouth a penalty after Steer went down. Jordan Harris went horribly high and wide with his spot kick and Clevedon went in search of an equaliser. Although they dominated the last five minutes and desperate Exmouth defending saw them pick up two yellow cards clear-cut chances were difficult to come by until the last minute of added time. Osmond’s last ditch free-kick was played into the box and eventually fell to Camper whose header was nodded on to the bar by a defender on the line and the ball was cleared. So, Clevedon ended up losing an even game 2-3 and will rue the missed chances which could have produced more.
Manager Alex White gave his thoughts after the game. ‘It was a crowd pleaser, it was tight, but a defeat was harsh because we passed the ball really well, were energetic but they were probably better in both boxes and more direct than us.’
‘They are a big robust side and we felt we had to play through them rather than be direct and especially in the second half we tried to get the ball down and be more attacking. We did it well up to the final third but couldn’t break them down and it left us open to the counterattack where the winner came from’.
‘So, we are happy with the way we played but disappointed we didn’t convert our chances. But we’ve got an important game coming up in the Vase against a good Brixham side, so we have to bounce back and not be too down because we lost today. Hopefully we will have a few bodies back, but we know we need to be well up for it.’
Clevedon Town Man of the match: Cameron Salmon
Clevedon Town line-up:
1. Charles Lovell
2. Elliot Nicholson
3. Sam Iles
4. Mitch Osmond – Missed penalty on 7 minutes
5. Callum Kingdon
6. Callum Eastwood
7. Ethan Feltham
8. Alex Camm
9. Archie Ferris (c)
10. Cameron Salmon - Goal on 47 minutes
11. Freddie King - Goal on 10 minutes
12. Archie Heywood
14. Alex Kemsley
15. Morgan Davies replaced Freddie King on 81 minutes
16. Syd Camper replaced Ethan Feltham on 50 minutes
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