WATCHET travelled to Keynsham last Saturday morning to play their away league fixture against Clevedon United on an all-weather and came home empty-handed after a 2-0 defeat.

The Red and Blacks conceded two sloppy goals in a first half where they were generally second best to their slicker moving opponents, and although things were more even after the break they never seriously threatened to salvage anything from the game.

A true playing surface could certainly not be blamed for the standard of Watchet’s passing in general and despite missing three central players their overall showing was disappointing.

Things were fairly even in a frantic opening, but once they got their noses in front through Blackhall’s free header from a corner, it was Clevedon who put together the more cohesive moves.

In contrast, Watchet struggled to keep possession for any length of time, and resorting to a longer game failed to pay dividends.

Their only real chance of the half came when Charley Clausen charged down a poor goal-kick, but his shot was off-target.

Clevedon then added to Watchet’s problems by doubling their advantage with less than five minutes to go to the interval. Left back Nicholson exploited a large gap on Watchet’s right before eluding two weak challenges and drilling the ball between Adam Bishop and his near post.

Desperate defending at the start of the second half saw Watchet withstand some Clevedon pressure when it seemed quite possible that the game could be put completely beyond reach.

Positional and formation changes along with substitutions did little to improve things for Watchet, although they went close to reducing the arrears in the last quarter when Lewis Rogers saw his shot following a corner kicked off the line next to an upright.

In a scramble following another flag kick, Chris Sully’s shot was also blocked by a defender and soon afterwards his curled free kick went straight into the keeper’s midriff.

A long-range effort from Charley Clausen then had the keeper scrambling across his goal as it passed just wide of the far post before one of a number of strange decisions led to Bishop being booked for dissent to cap a frustrating day for Watchet.

Watchet: A Bishop, L Rogers, E Harding, J Milton, B Robinson, A Clausen, R Strong, C Jeromson, J Worth, C Sully, C Clausen, subs C Knight, G Dawson (both used).

l Matt Heywood and Aaron Deeks return to Watchet’s squad for a tough assignment away to league leaders and reigning champions Shirehampton tomorrow (Saturday), but Brandon Walsh is still away. Kick-off is at 2.30pm.

l Minehead are due to visit Burnham United tomorrow (Saturday) in Division One West of the Somerset County League.

Their match last Saturday against Winscombe fell victim to the weather.