Weston retained the Somerset Cup after beating near neigbours Clevedon 2-1 at the Hand Stadium.

CLEVEDON TOWN 1

WESTON-S-MARE 2

WESTON retained the Somerset Premier Cup by beating old rivals Clevedon watched by a bumper crowd of 554 at the Hand Stadium.

The holders kept the trophy the hard way, winning all four games away from home and conceding only one goal, and that one deep in injury time in the final. They saw off Bristol Manor Farm 4-0, Frome Town 2-0 and Brislington 1-0.

The Seagulls were without Matt Villis and skipper Ben Kirk, so Liam Dempsey, of the Under-19s, was drafted in the central defence and had a solid game against the lively Clevedon front runners. Three other members of the Under-19s, Callum Ham, Toby Yeates and Jack Camm were on the substitutes’ bench.

Weston went into the attack from the start, forcing their first corner in the first minute and from their second flag kick on seven minutes Dayle Grubb had a strong low drive parried by Clevedon keeper and skipper Jason Mellor. Three minutes later Nat Pepperell’s low effort forced Mellor to again parry and from the clearance, Clevedon’s Reeko Best gave an easy save to Weston keeper Lloyd Irish.

Weston got the deserved break-through on 17 minutes when Sahr Kabba had a fierce effort beaten out by Mellor, but Pepperell was on hand to bank in the rebound.

There was a nasty accidental clash of heads on 24 minutes involving Weston skipper Jamie Laird, on a run down the left, and Clevedon central defender Lloyd Mills, which resulted in Laird returning with a heavily bandaged head and the unfortunate Mills having to receive hospital treatment for a nasty gash over his left eye, Jack McKenna coming on.

From Weston’s third corner on 27 minutes, Mellor was forced to beat out Laird’s effort, while at the other end a minute later, McKenna forced another easy save from Irish. Then on 33 minutes, Kabba’s diagonal effort was just wide.

Weston struck again on 36 minutes when Kabba, who was named man of the match by sponsors Avon Barrier Company of Bristol, twisted and turned in the six-yard box, slipped, got up and fired past Mellor.

Clevedon had their best spell just before the interval when Ollie Clarke fired straight at Irish and then Chas Hemmings was over with another good effort.

The home side had a much better second half, slightly dominating the midfield play, but Irish was never really troubled. At the end of the 90 minutes, referee Richard Hulme, who had an excellent game, indicated there would be an additional six minutes, and Clevedon got a consolation goal when Henry Muggeridge bundled the ball past Irish.

WESTON STATS

Goals: Clevedon, Muggeridge (90+3). Weston, Pepperell (17), Kabba (36).

Shots on target: Clevedon 4, Weston 5.

Shots off target: Clevedon 6, Weston 3.

Corners: Clevedon 1, Weston 7.

Offsides: Clevedon 2, Weston 2.

Free kicks conceded: Clevedon 11, Weston 10.

Referee: Richard Hulme (Radstock). Excellent game, allowed play to flow.

Bookings: Clevedon, Fisher, Hemmings. Weston, Slocombe.

Attendance: 545.

Clevedon squad: Mellor, Teale, Muggeridge, Mills (McKenna 24), Kingdon, Fisher (Ricketts 66), Clarke, Kington, Best (Flurry 79), Hemmings, Walker. Subs (not used): Geeson, Brown.

Weston squad: Irish, Price, Slocombe, Cleverley (Young 72), Laird, Dempsey, Diallo, Grubb, Kabba (Duharty 79), Ingram (Camm 89), Pepperell. Subs (not used): Ham, Yeates.