Nailsea & Tickenham made it four wins from their first five games in Toolstation Western League Division One with a high scoring 5-3 victory against Gillingham Town at Fryth Way last Saturday.
The Swags took an early lead through Callum Dunn, his fourth goal of the season, after the Gills were unable to clear their box in the first couple of minutes.
But a short back pass allowed Tom Jarvis to cut the ball back for James Boyland to level the scores.
Nalisea & Tickenham then regained control of the first half and retook the lead when James Seeley slid in Jack Thorne, who beat the last man and the goalkeeper to notch his first goal for the club.
Jacob O’Donnell then made it three when his left-footed effort flew over the keeper and dropped into the far corner.
The Swags looked destined to increase their lead by a considerable amount in the second half, looking the superior team as Gillingham also went down to 10 men when Thorne was pulled down by Joe Jarvis when through on goal.
Gary Freeman looked to have started a rout with a carefully controlled first-time side-footed volley past the goalkeeper from a Joe Berry cross to make it 4-1, but the Swags didn’t find the extra gear and were pegged back twice.
Adam Pullen found Jarvis to finish into the bottom corner before Boyland was fouled in the box and Jarvis scored his second and Gillingham’s third.
However, Joe Berry settled any nerves in the final stages with a well-taken individual effort to make it 5-3 to return to winning ways and move up to third in the table.
Joint manager Jamie Smith said: “We are delighted with the win of course, but we know there is more to come as we look to improve defensively as a team.
“Overall, it’s been a really positive start to life in the Western league. We’d have certainly taken 12 points from five games if it had been offered before the start of the season.”
Nailsea & Tickenham return to action at Cheddar on Tuesday before visiting Wells on Friday night (7:30pm) and AEK Boko on Bank Holiday Monday (3pm).
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