BRIDPORT 1 CLEVEDON TOWN 1

BRIDPORT’S indifferent run of form continued at St Mary’s Field on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Clevedon Town.

Tom Richardson put the hosts in front early on but the visitors levelled just before the break to claim a share of the spoils.

Bees boss Trevor Senior, who revealed that midfielder Jamie Symes is the subject of a seven-day approach from Portland United, was disappointed that his side couldn’t hold on to their lead.

“Clevedon were hard working and have picked up a bit in recent weeks but we should have been looking to get three points off them,” he said.

“We had the lion’s share of possession and got into some good positions, we just didn’t make them count.

“We didn’t have too many gilt-edged chances but we got some good balls into the box and played quite well considering the difficult surface.

“We’ve got to try and take the positives out of it and one of those is that we didn’t get beaten.

“They had a half-chance late on that if they had put away would have left us with nothing, so at least we’ve stopped our run of defeats.”

Home skipper Chris Clarke set up the opener for Richardson with his cross being headed in by the Bridport striker.

At this point, Senior was confident that his men would go on and get another to make it 2-0.

Richardson almost did that with a left-foot volley from eight yards which went over the bar.

And, as the Bees were to discover, that miss was to prove costly.

Bridport were caught by a sucker-punch on the stroke of half-time after giving the ball away on the halfway line.

Jake Harris broke free of his marker to convert from a narrow angle 12 yards out.

There were very few clear-cut scoring opportunities in the second period and Bridport keeper Josh Hadley had little to do in the home goal.

Jamie Beasley’s crosses from the left flank put Clevedon under pressure, however, the end product was lacking.

Senior added: “It has actually been over the last three or four weeks, since Jamie Symes has been out with an ankle injury, that we have gone out of three cups and lost and drawn in the league.

“He has been arguably our best player so far this season and we do miss him when he’s not playing.”

Bridport, 12th in the Toolstation Western League Premier Division, have now gone five games without a win in league and cup.

Bees: Hadley, Evans, Clarke, Hill (Peach 75), Senior, Hayter, Richardson (Byerley 65), M Buckler, Salter, Stewart (S Buckler 75), Beasley