Football can be a funny old game, with cup competitions at the heart of strange draws and sometimes some upsets. Tuesday night was Francis Hillier Premier Cup Day, where Step Six Mendip Broadwalk faced National League South side, Weston-Super-Mare at the Optima Stadium, which for Mendip, was a monumental tie.
Weston lined up with some notorious faces across the national league. With a host of former Cheltenham Town players in the squad. Scot Bennett, who departed the club last summer, and Liam Sercombe who’s currently on loan from Forest Green Rovers were both in the starting 11. Whilst Cheltenham centurion appearance holder Sean Long was named as a substitute.
EFL veteran Michael Smith was also starting, the 38-year-old made over 100 appearances for Bristol Rovers, Peterborough & Hearts; whilst also earning himself 19 caps for Northern Ireland throughout his career. Weston also had talisman Louis Britton leading the line, who received interest in him from League Two last January.
Callum Pritchard, was tasked with playing in an unfamiliar position than his usual Midfield role, would see him starting Right-Back that evening. When asked on how he felt playing out of position against such strong opposition he said: “Playing out of position is always hard, against a winger of that quality and pace it’s never going to be easy.
“In the first half however, down my side I felt I won my tackles and positioned myself well.” Despite the 20-year-olds positive half, The Seagulls were ruthless, putting five past Mendip.
Pritchard mentioned the level in quality, saying; “The difference regarding fitness and constant communication was scarily good. They played us off the park in every aspect possible!”
However, the tactical side to things was different for him, “Playing at academy level in my youth allowed me to understand the tactical aspect of a side like Weston.” At a younger age, Pritchard enjoyed a five-year spell at Forest Green Rovers, before being released and signing for side Totterdown United. In his first season with Totts, he helped gain his side promotion to the Gloucester County League.
In the second half, Weston came back out wanting more. Britton had made it a hat-trick after just 48 minutes, and by full-time it had finished 13-0, but despite the score-line the full-back claimed that there was lots of positives to take; “You don’t get to play a step two side often, so when you play a side like we did you have to grasp it with two hands.”
Mendip quickly turn their attention to next Saturday, which they take on Odd Down United, whilst Weston host Folkstone Invicta.
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