Match Report: Paulton Rovers 1 vs Evesham United 1

Report by Jon Green, Paulton Rovers

An excellent volley by Rovers’ Ed Butcher cancelled out Evesham’s Levi Steele’s goal in the first half of the final game of the season at The Winterfield Stadium.

With crisp passing and using the wings at every chance, Evesham had most of the possession. Chances fell for Levi Steele and Amer Awadh but neither troubled Frankie Phillips in the Rovers goal. Rovers were struggling to maintain any sort of hold on the ball as Evesham pressed them into mistakes. So it was somewhat against the run of play that Paulton won a penalty in the 21st minute when Ed Butcher was brought down in the box after a rare foray forward. Butcher stepped up to take the spot kick himself and it took an excellent save from Evesham’s Ben Taylor to deny the opening goal.

In the 29th minute, the visitors got the opener. With Rovers again making moves forward and the defence up high, Evesham pressed the hosts into another mistake and hit a long ball forward which left Levi Steele though one on one with Frankie Phillips and he made no mistake.

The game became a little more subdued as half time approached with neither team looking like making clear chances although in the 36th minute Ed Butcher broke clear on the left and delivered a cross that Leighton Thomas headed just wide. Milo Murgatroyd was introduced soon after when an earlier injury to Braeden Symes couldn’t be shaken off. It gave Rovers some more momentum going forward but the half time whistle blew with neither keeper being unduly tested.

As with the Exmouth game last week, the second half was a different affair. Rovers were much more on the front foot with more possession and caused Exmouth a number of issues at the back. With the Under 18s in attendance, the atmosphere was building and Rovers got their deserved equaliser in the 65th minute. Evesham failed to clear a long throw-in from Dan Restorick and the ball fell to Ed Butcher on the edge of the 18 yard box and he hit a sweet volley that hit the ground and popped back up and out of reach of the keeper.

With their tails up, Rovers continued to press forward looking for a winner. But Evesham still looked dangerous on the break and a chance fell for Frederick Willcox in the 67th minute but his shot was well over. In the 74th minute, William Owens whipped in a perfect cross and with two forwards launching themselves forward, it looked like a certain goal. But somehow, the ball eluded them both and ran to safety on the other side of the pitch.