REPORT: Moorlanders march past relegation-threatened Elmore

CHESTER Walters’ second league goal helped Bovey Tracey across the line with a 4-1 win over Elmore on Saturday.

Bovey Tracey netted four goals for the third time in four games, with Walters having Kelson Pollard (2) and Ollie Aplin for company on the score sheet. Mason King scored a consolation goal for Elmore to bring his scoring streak to four successive games with a goal. 

‘I think the first half was pretty controlled,’ said Bovey boss Will Small, who fielded four changes to the starting line-up from the win over Bridport in midweek.

‘We looked threatening going forward again and looked comfortable at the back like we weren’t really going to concede and then at 3-0 at half-time it was game over.

‘I could give people rests and give certain lads minutes, so making five subs quite early in the second half was always going to have an effect on the game slightly. We had one in the sin bin and then, two minutes later, we get one injured, so a lack of discipline and the game can swing just like that. 

‘Elmore were on top, then, for 10 minutes. They got their goal and I’m a bit frustrated not to keep a clean sheet – I think everyone will be frustrated with that – but we really should have had four or five more goals if we had been ruthless.’

Early exchanges were quite even, with mistakes from both sides caused by heavy rainfall that had made the Mill Marsh surface very slick. The ever-threatening Pollard was up to his usual tricks from the off, and he first broke into the penalty area on four minutes after his quick feet got him round the defender. Approaching the goal from the right, Pollard was halted by a superb challenge from Dan Cole.

But the next challenge that came in on the young winger was not so good. Fellow wide-man Mitch Thomas beat his man and slipped a ball through for Pollard to chase, and he was clumsily brought down in the box. Pollard stepped up to take the penalty and calmly stroked home into the bottom-left corner.

Bovey were now in the driving seat. Stand-in right-back Will Allen tried his luck with a first-time shot on the stretch but saw a reaction save by Elmore custodian Owen Vosper keep it out. 

The Moorlanders doubled the advantage five minutes before half-time. Pollard worked the ball down the right wing and whipped an inch-perfect cross for Aplin, unmarked and in the centre of the box, to cushion a side-footed volley past Vosper for his second goal in as many games.

But there was still time for one more as Pollard again struck from the spot in identical fashion to his first, bringing up his 10th goal for Bovey and the fifth game in which he has netted a brace.

Six minutes after the interval, Walters broke free and looked likely to score but dragged his effort onto the far post. But he did not have to wait long for another chance to come, and this time he made no mistake as he took the ball in stride and drilled an effort between the ‘keeper’s legs.

The game fizzled out for the final half-hour, with Elmore on top at one point as Bovey were reduced to nine men with one man injured and another serving a 10-minute expulsion to the sin bin.

The Eagles were not to be silenced, though, and grabbed a deserved goal in injury-time. King was the beneficiary of some fortunate bounces in the penalty area but reacted first to prod home from 10 yards.

‘I thought we’d gone past the stage of conceding silly, sloppy goals,’ Small admitted. ‘We’ve kept a couple clean sheets lately, winning 4-0 the other day, a 2-0 and a 1-0.

‘But taking Laughts [Simon Laughton] off early doors, maybe we lacked that organisation back there and that voice to try organise the defence, but its one of them where it has ricocheted, had a bounce, gone here, gone there and it’s ended up in the back of the net. It was unlucky but it is frustrating.

‘We want to finish as high as we can, and we are aiming for that fourth-place spot,’ Small continued. ‘If we can nick that, that’s where we were aiming to be at the start of the season – we were aiming for top five – but it’s important to not just let the season fizzle out because [Elmore] were playing for survival, so they had a lot riding on the game and in that respect there was more at stake for them than for us. 

‘I thought we looked hungry and looked good going forward but for the last half hour the game has fizzled out and going down to nine men has changed the game.’