Paulton literally left it to the last minute before scoring the winning goal to see off Exmouth Town, currently their nearest rivals in a foot of the table clash.

The match started, as expected, at a frantic pace. After just two minutes, as Exmouth’s Aaron Denny shot for goal, the referee adjudged that a Rovers defender had stopped the ball with his hand and awarded a penalty. Everyone, including the Town players. were perplexed. It seems that some justice was done, though, as captain Louis Morison failed to beat new Rovers’ goalie Frankie Phillips who made a fine save.

After 9 minutes of battle, the Paulton defenders, trying to play their way out of defence, dithered on the ball. It was stolen by Ben Steer who passed across the face of goal to Thomas Bath who gleefully side-footed an easy goal to give Exmouth the lead.

The goal seemed to rock the Rovers - their play became anxious and unconvincing and Exmouth gained some control. But gradually, Paulton exerted some pressure of their own and after 21 minutes, Dan Cottle (it’s good to see him back) had Paulton’s first shot. It was well saved by Chris Wright in the Town goal. Kyle Tooze was a constant threat to the Town defenders, showing strength, good ball control and encouragement in leading from the front.

Ed Butcher on the left and Martin Lenihan on the right were beginning to make inroads and several corners were won. From one of these, taken by Butcher in the 29th minute, and as twilight descended, Dan Restorick rose above the Town defence to thump a header past Chris Wright in the Exmouth goal to equalise. At that very moment, a celestial beam shone from above. The floodlights were on.
The match, though scrappy, was a good contest. Exmouth have strong running forwards in Steer, Ethan Slater and Bath. But the new look Paulton defence, with Sam Pashen and Will Armstrong particularly impressive alongside Restorick and captain Neil Martin, saw that Phillips remained largely untroubled.

The second half began with Rovers’ player manager Kyle Tooze just failing to convert a big chance, created brilliantly by himself as he weaved into the opponents’ penalty area. Then, latching on to fine passes from by Josh Crispin and then Fin Haines, Tooze was unceremoniously brought down on both occasions by Town defenders. Referee Collins was unmoved by the polite requests for a penalty from the aggrieved Rovers players.

Paulton began to get on top as Will Armstrong and Dan Cottle created chances that came to nothing as Exmouth remained resolute in defence. The game became disjointed as frequent stoppages for free kicks awarded by an inconsistent official led to some poor challenges from both teams.

Steer continued to cause problems on Paulton’s right hand side and there were some nervous moments as corners were won and shots sailed over the bar. Substitutes Junaithan Walker and Dan McBeam added some impetus to the Rovers attack and one excellent pass from Walker allowed Butcher to drive a shot which was deflected away.

Paulton look a better side when building attacks gradually from the back, allowing the whole team to be involved in the movement forward. Anyway – that to one side. With the hope of a vital victory ebbing away with every passing moment, and with five added minutes on the clock, another excellent corner from Butcher was met by that man Restorick, who rose above everyone else to power a header past Wright in the Exmouth goal. Paulton’s joy was unconfined while the Exmouth players sank to their knees in disbelief.

This result puts a significant gap between the two teams at the base of this league, and Paulton have another pivotal match on Boxing Day at home to Yate Town.

Paulton man of the match: Frankie Phillips