A warm afternoon at The Daykin Estates Ground saw Trowbridge Town play their first game at home since April in warm, although cloudy at times, weather.
The game really sprung into life in the opening 20 minutes, with The Bees unable to defend a Kintbury set piece, resulting in a shot by James Patton which found it’s way past the outstretched Ramsey and into the back of the net.
The Bees rallied for an immediate response, and on six minutes had a golden opportunity from around 25 yards out – a free kick dispatched expertly by Liam Milburn, with a slight deflection to help, sending it past the keeper to level the scores.
Then, on 12 minutes, Leigh Rogers picked the ball up on the left hand side just outside the box, and unleashed a spectacular curling effort in off the post to put The Bees 2-1 up – an exciting start to the game!
On 20 minutes, Jake Samuel raced through on goal, only to be taken out by the keeper – his studs making clear contact with Jake’s leg, and not the ball, which would later force Jake off in the second half aggrivating a previous injury.
The Referee awarded a penalty to The Bees, but only offered the keeper a yellow card, to the surprise of most present.
James Rustell stepped up to take the penalty, which was sent low to the keeper’s left, but he made the save, and the rebound was also saved and cleared by Kintbury.
Towards the end of the first half, Kintbury managed to level from another set piece, the header from JJ Lofthouse-Smith looping past Ramsey and into the back of the net.
The second half passed without too much incident, with both teams trying and failing to beat the goalkeepers – then, on 69 minutes, George Bendle picked the ball up on the edge of the area, got the better of two defenders and fired his shot low into the bottom corner, to send The Shed into jubilation!
Not long after this, Kintbury’s no.5 was sin-binned, although the reason wasn’t apparently clear.
Adam Shipman had a great chance to secure all 3 points towards the end, but his outstretched leg managed to poke the ball over the bar from a couple of yards out, before the Kintbury keeper was given his marching orders on 90 minutes for a deliberate shove on Milburn, who received a yellow card for time wasting.
An argument ensued between the referee and away bench, resulting in a further two yellow cards to different people, and more time being added to the game – but The Bees were able to hold on to secure all 3 points and maintain our unbeaten home record – which stretches back to August 2021.
Att: 98
Match Sponsor: TTFC Archive
Man of The Match: Leigh Rogers
Lineup: Ramsey, Baggs, Kilbane, Plank, Milburn, Rogers, Fox, Miluk, Bendle, Samuel, Rustell – subs: Wayman, Gunning, Barber, Shipman, Young
