MINEHEAD were held to a 1-1 away draw by Nailsea & Tickenham in the first division of the Uhlsport Somerset County Football League.

With several key players unavailable Minehead travelled to play Nailsea on a ground where they have rarely enjoyed success. Goalkeeper Freddie Harvey-Larmar, brother of defender Bertie, made his first full appearance for the club, having featured previously in a few friendly matches, and though the game was fairly even throughout, he was probably the busier of the two keepers, making important saves in both halves.

The Blues were the first to go close to scoring, when a snapshot from Sam Heath from a very tight angle rifled past home keeper Jason Mellor but glanced off the crossbar. At the other end Harvey-Larmar made two superb close range, reflex saves within a couple of seconds to keep out efforts from Jack Godfrey and Dan Elson.

It was then Heath’s turn to be in the thick of the action again when his 25-yard curler went just over the bar, followed by a cross from Ian Bellinger being well met by Waghorn, but this too hit the woodwork with the keeper beaten.

The end to end action continued with Harvey-Larmar tipping a powerful shot from Godfrey over the bar. At the very end of an eventful first half Mellor, who had come well out of his goal as Waghorn broke through the heart of the defence to meet a through ball, hauled the striker to the ground by the neck as he was about to shoot into the open goal. While it was debatable whether Waghorn was inside or outside of the penalty box when he was fouled, the referee decided that a caution was a strong enough punishment for the offence.

Minehead’s remonstrations for a red card, also included Guy Burns being shown a yellow. Though the hosts started the second half with an attacking intent, it was Minehead’s Josh Elston who went closest to scoring when, after cleverly beating a defender, his shot from the edge of the box was tipped over the bar by Mellor.

The deadlock was eventually broken ten minutes into the half when Godfrey received a pass from the left wing and with only Harvey-Larmar to beat, shot home competently with his left foot.

The Blues fought back well and deservedly equalised with a quarter of an hour left to play when, following a foul on Waghorn, Bellinger’s free kick from 25 yards was too good for Mellor, nestling just inside the post, to record his fourth goal in seven games.

Minehead pushed for the winner that they will have felt they deserved, but the hosts’ backline stood firm.

This was Minehead’s seventh draw in 21 league matches but their remain sixth in the table, still very much in with a chance of promotion to the Premier Division.

Minehead: Freddie Harvey-Larmar, Bertie Harvey-Larmar, Myles Campbell-Farmer, Louis Burge, Sam Heath, Will Singleton-Voss, Stefan Phillips, Josh Elston, Toby Waghorn, Ian Bellinger, Guy BurnsSubs: Ethan Hall, Scott Kivell, Harvey Henderson (all used). Man of the Match: Freddie Harvey-Larmar.

This coming Saturday, September 8, Minehead have another trip, this time further north to Stockwood Green in Bristol, where they will be looking to avenge a 2-1 home defeat a few weeks ago, in their quest to get back into promotion contention.