Somerset Division One West

Minehead 3, Burnham United 2

BURNHAM United suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, going down 3-2 at Minehead in an action-packed clash.

Russell Holley and Tom Hurley were on target for United, but goals from Damion Redman and Guy Burns, together with an own goal by Lee Vaughan, earned all three points for Minehead.

It was the hosts who took the lead early on when Vaughan deflected the ball past his own keeper from a cross.

But Holley soon took advantage of some sloppy Minehead defending to fire home from Steven Lear’s cross and level the scores.

They weren’t level for long though, as Burns applied a neat finish to put Minehead into a 2-1 lead – and on the stroke of half-time, Redman converted from a tight angle to make it 3-1.

Burnham fought back after the break and were given a huge boost when Mike Gradon was sent off for handling the ball on the goal line.

Tom Hurley stepped up to fire home the spot kick and give Burnham a lifeline, but they were unable to find the all important third goal and the final whistle consigned them to a first defeat of the season.

United travel to Frome Town Sports in round two of the Somerset Senior Cup on Saturday, before travelling to Brislington Reserves in the Premier-First Division Cup the following week.