Portishead Res 2 - 2 Yatton Athletic

After a promising start to the season Yatton faced a stern test against last years runners up .

Portishead started the stronger and immediately put pressure on the Yatton defence which included vice captain Mike Lee in the unfamiliar position of sweeper. After a few lucky escapes the defence eventually buckled on the twenty minute mark when Millard failed to clear and the ball was swept home by Swampy. Portishead continued to press but the defence held firm and as the half went on Yatton began to pull themselves back into the game. The pacy trio of Limon, Read and Richards began to stretch the Portishead back line and with five minutes remaining in the half won a free kick twenty five yards from goal. Lee managed to find the corner of the goal but the home keeper should really have dealt with it.

Half time saw a change of system and personnel for the visitors, switching to a 4-4-2 formation Yatton brought on veteran Fred fisher for Scott Bird who was sacrificed for the system rather than his ability.

Once again Portishead put the visitors under pressure but the new system gave Yatton more control over the middle of the park with Abrahams and particularly Captain Cox stamping their authority on the game.

Once again though a mistake at the heart of the Yatton defence let in the hosts, the striker slotting home from inside the six yard box. With that manager Richards went for broke and threw on Alex Bird up front for the hard working full back Hall. Yatton poured forward like a German panzer division, first Fisher going close then Limon hitting the bar. With five minutes to go Bird fed Limon who calmly slotted home to send the travelling support wild.

Yatton settled for a point and were grateful to injured keeper Stone who played through considerable pain and Nobby Moore who was uncharacteristically steady at the back.