McErlain's joy at Berrow resolve (From Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News)

McErlain's joy at Berrow resolve

6:00pm Wednesday 15th August 2012 in Sport

NEWLY-appointed Berrow manager Ryan McErlain could hardly hide his delight at his side's opening day triumph over last season's double winning Nailsea side.

McErlain only put the finishing touches to his squad on last week with the signings of former Wells City centre back Ben Robertson and ex-Bridgwater Town forward Connor Watts, who both took their place in the squad alongside the other new additions, Phil Hartnup and Ellis Harper.

But the club's new boys seemed to take a while to settle in as Berrow started nervously and soon went 1-0 down.

Falling behind seemed to settle Berrow and they began to make impression on the game and they drew level when Harper latched on to Jeff Read's through ball and applied a clinical finish.

The visitors were still dangerous but Berrow's back line held up well, rebuffing their talented forward line.

The second half again saw a slow start from the home side, but they took the lead when Hartnup curled the ball beautifully into the top corner to introduce himself to the fans.

Nailsea, still a threat, could have equalised but were denied by a fine stop from Chris Warner.

The goalmouth melee that ensued saw Berrow break with Harper picking out Luke McErlain who smashed the ball into the opposite corner.

The away side did have the final say with a goal with almost the last kick of the game but it was too little too late.

Speaking after the win, boss McErlain said: "Our work rate was excellent, we've not really had time to gel yet so I'm really positive that we will improve from here and the lads who made their debuts were superb.

"We've worked hard over the summer to sign younger players and reduce the average age of the team and we've achieved that and we looked far more mobile against a very good outfit.”