BRIDPORT 4

ROMSEY TOWN 2

BRIDPORT put four past Romsey Town for the second time in five days as they eased through this first qualifying round of the FA Vase replay.

Richard Hebditch scored either side of a Braeden Symes goal to put them 3-1 up at half-time, with James Clifton firing in when the Bees were 2-0 up.

Liam Magee then narrowed the scores once again before a late Mark Salter goal ensured the Bees went through.

The match was a replay of the two sides’ thrilling 4-4 draw after extra-time at Romsey on Saturday, where the Bees went ahead twice yet also recover from being two goals down.

Bridport got off to the perfect start when Hebditch bagged his first of the game after just three minutes when Dan Peach played a great through-ball to Hebditch who went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and slotted in.

The hosts then seemed to be coasting when Symes smashed the ball on the edge of the box, 11 minutes later from a rebound after Oscar Latas headed against the bar from a corner.

However, Bridport were then sent a stark reminder that this would not be plain-sailing when Clifton notched a goal after 30 minutes when he got in behind and finished past Bridport goalkeeper Jason Hutchings.

However, Hebditch was in the right place at the right time to head in from a Leighton Thomas cross after 39 minutes to restore the two-goal cushion.

The Bees went in at half-time 3-1 seemingly heading to a straight-forward victory.

Magee then fired in just five minutes into the second half when Symes lost possession when struggling with a dead-leg, and Romsey broke forward to squeeze a shot in to narrow the scores.

The two sides then remained deadlocked in an end-to-end second half.

Ultimately, Salter was on hand to fire in a penalty in the first minute of added-on time to make certain of the victory for Bridport after Sam Clarke was taken down when one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Bridport boss Adam Fricker said: “We are delighted.

“We were happy with the reaction we got from the lads from Saturday, we played some great stuff.

“Give Romsey a lot of credit, they certainly turned up with a stronger team than what we played against on Saturday.

“They gave us a real good test.”

Bridport: Hutchings, Andrews, Bailey, Martin, Sweet, Thomas (Morris 80), Symes (Wood 50), Peach, Hebditch (Clarke 65), Latas, Salter

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