Clevedon Town came from behind with an injury-hit squad to beat Brislington 4-1 with good performances all over the pitch on Saturday.
Callum Eastwood battled through his injured hamstring to partner Syd Camper at the centre of defence, the retuning Ethan Feltham scored one and created two goals and under-18s Tom Brazier made an impressive first full appearance.
But the visitors opened the scoring after 17 minutes when a free-kick from the left caused havoc in the Clevedon box and as the ball was hacked clear it rebounded off Brislington skipper Scott Lewis past Luca Smith.
The assistant referee initially flagged for offside but there was no escape for Town as the referee awarded the goal after a short conversation with his colleague.
But Clevedon started to put their passing game together and were soon level as Mitch Osmond’s free kick found Archie Ferris and his cross was volleyed in off the post by Feltham on 27 minutes.
The hosts finished the half strongly with a two-goal burst.
On 42 minutes Ferris played the ball down the right to Feltham and his great cross was coolly slid home by Osmond under pressure to put Town ahead.
It was 3-1 in injury time when another excellent cross, this time from in-form Elliot Nicholson, caused confusion in the Brislington defence and Ferris pounced on George Dorrington’s attempted punch clear.
It was game over 12 minutes into the second half when a great move by Town saw Feltham’s run into the box end with a perfect cross for Alex Camm to head home.
Manager Alex White brought on under-18s Ed Maule and Ernie Cooksley as the Seasiders completed a league double over Brislington.
“Once we settled down and got back to our normal system we were always in control," said White.
“We wanted to pass the ball and once we got going, we did it well. Missing a few made it difficult, but we scored at the right times and the two just before half time put us in total control.
“Even so I was pleased with the way we managed the game in the second half which is something we have missed in the last two games.
“It was a good start in our aim to make sure we win our last three games, and we go into the game at Street on Good Friday (3pm) full of confidence despite the continuing injuries.”
Clevedon Town under-18s face Paulton Rovers in the final of the Roger Stone Memorial Cup at Weston AFC’s Optima Stadium tonight (Wednesday) at 7.45pm.
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