Clevedon Town returned to action at the Everyone Active Stadium with a 3-0 win over Wellington in a behind closed doors friendly on Saturday.
The game was part of preparations for their FA Vase fourth round, against Plymouth Parkway this coming weekend, and victory came after an own goal and strikes from Will Gould and Ethan Feltham.
Coach Alex White said: "It was a really important game for us because there were players who needed game time. We said before the game priority one was a win, priority two was a good performance as a team and individually and priority three was a clean sheet.
"When you look at the bigger picture, we’re really happy. We’ve played well and got a good run out as well, so it’s ideal preparation for next week."
Clevedon started well, with early shots from George King and Jay Murray, before dramatically taking the lead on eight minutes.
Fin Biggs hit a long cross which was headed back by King and although Gould’s powerful shot was straight at ex-Seasider Tom Creed, the keeper spilled the ball which somehow ended up in the back of the net.
With their tails up, Clevedon pressed forward and on 15 minutes a long crossfield ball found Murray cutting in from the left, only for Creed to smother his shot.
The Seasiders thought they had doubled the lead on 20 minutes when central defender Sam Hedges headed in King’s left-wing corner but the referee saw a foul in the box.
Almost immediately a typical Elliot Nicholson break down the right created a chance for Morgan Williams whose shot was pushed round the post for a corner by Creed.
Not to be outdone Wellington’s Jack Porter laid on a chance for big striker Paulo Borges but great defensive work from the Town defence cut out the danger.
Then on 38 minutes a lapse in the Wellington rearguard saw the ball fall to Murray who set up Will Gould to sidefoot home and put Town 2-0 up.
King was off-target with a free kick before the last action of the half saw Wellington’s Jesse Howe set up Borges again, but Harley Wilkinson was quick off his line to smother the ball.
Straight after the break another Biggs cross from the left ended with a rare Murray header going just wide before both teams rang the changes with a series of substitutions.
There were chances at both ends and on 57 minutes a long ball from Wellington’s Tom Davies saw sub Rohan Poulsom running clear, but Wilkinson was again out quickly to clear from outside the box.
At the other end, King put Murray through, but keeper Creed was on hand to save, and with Clevedon on top, their substitutes had a chance to shine.
Ethan Feltham’s deflected shot was saved by Creed’s legs before Callum Gould hit a rasping shot just wide on 70 minutes.
Morgan Davies then set up chances for Callum Gould and Glen Hayer, but it took a spectacular effort to finally produce the third goal with five minutes left as Callum Gould’s free-kick into the box was headed back by Greg Yarde for Feltham to score with an overhead kick which gave Creed no chance.
Clevedon: Wilkinson, Nicholson, Camper, Kingdon, Dempsey, Hedges, Williams, King, W Gould, Murray, Biggs, Yarde, Hayer, Bayliss, Feltham, C Gould, Babbington, Pitt, Davies.
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