Paulton edge Easter derby with Welton

Goals from George Fowler and Corey Rawlings were enough to take the points on derby day as Paulton Rovers edged past hosts Welton Rovers in their final games of the season.

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Despite seeming like a very ‘end of season’ affair, it took a long time for either side to get a grip on the game.

Welton had produced another encouraging display on Good Friday when only going down to a single goal against Shepton Mallet - having looked bright in the opening 20 minutes.

Paulton did deliver some tempting crosses into the box into the opening quarter of an hour on Monday, however it took until the 26th minute for the first reach chance when Milo Murgatroyd went on one of his trademark runs and squared the ball to Kye Simpson whose effort was deflected wide. In the 34th minute, Corey Rawlings did well to turn his man on the edge of the box before his low shot was saved.

The breakthrough came four minutes later when a good team move was rounded off by Murgatroyd who found George Fowler in the box. His low drive appeared to go under Adrian Cordillet and into the net. Seconds later, Murgatroyd was clear through and, after dragging the ball around Cordillet, seemed to be clearly brought down, but his penalty shout was waved away.

Welton had posed some threat but goalkeeper Dan Jackson hadn’t needed to pull out any save in a pretty drab first half.

The second period proved a different affair and former Paulton striker Jamarni Langlais blasted a deflected shot past Jackson to equalise four minutes after the restart. The goal seemed to perk both sides up, with Murgatroyd making another great run down the right and finding Rawlings whose shot flew agonisingly over.

The first of two sendings off came three minutes later when Paulton substitute Dylan Gould tangled with Langlais. As tempers flared, Langlais appeared to grab Gould’s throat and was shown a straight red card, Gould was booked for his part.