Cheddar slipped to defeat at league leaders Keynsham Town, with injuries playing their part later in the game.

Keynsham Town 2

Cheddar 0

Games at Keynsham’s Crown Hill 3G pitch are never an easy proposition, but with player absences and Keynsham being the current league leaders, this made the game a doubly difficult proposition.

Manager Jared Greenhalgh’s pre-match preparations were boosted by the late signings of striker Jake Mawford, who had signed on dual registration terms from Conference South side Weston and defender Connor Liddiard, who had come in from Paulton Rovers.

Callum Ham was lively in the opening minutes, creating openings from passes from Tom Manning and man of the match Billy Vaughan, while Mawford had an 18-yard shot headed off the line.

Against the run of play, Keynsham first hit the bar and soon after took the lead when a striker gave keeper Liam Kingston no chance with a strong shot.

The visitors gathered themselves and good link play between Adam Jones and Ham ended with the latter’s strike on goal smothered by goalkeeper Ash Wintle at the second attempt.

After the break, defenders King and Liddiard came off injured. This gave the home side the upper hand and they hit the bar and post before scoring their second in the 68th minute.

The Cheesemen rallied themselves with 15 minutes remaining and Mawford was unlucky not to reduce the deficit with two shots wide of the target, before his impressive run deep into the Keynsham on 77 minutes saw his drive rattle off an upright.

Chances went begging for the home side as the game drew to a close, but to the visitor’s credit, Cheddar keeper Kingston made two good quality saves to keep the leaders at bay as they went on to secure their 10th win of the season and leave the Cheesemen in eighth position.

Cheddar host mid-table Portishead on Saturday, with an early kick-off at 10.15am.