BITTON 1-1 HENGROVE ATHLETIC

The Grove lost debutant defender Taylor Doyle to a second yellow card just before the hour mark and when Harry Neil put his side in front two minutes later, it seemed that Bitton would coast to a comfortable three points. But Jones had other ideas, slamming home a free kick with six minutes to go to grab a deserved point.

The 2023-24 season marks the 75th anniversary of Hengrove Athletic as a football club and they kicked it off in warm conditions with a slight breeze. Manager Jamie Hillman named three of his summer signings in the starting line up giving debuts to 16-year olds Taylor Doyle & Rohan Hartrey as well as left back Regan Sollars. Three more new faces were on the bench in the shape of teens Louie Farrow and Oscar Sullivan along with 20-year old Dylan Powell.

Two minutes in and Doyle made his mark, quite literally, with a late challenge on Bitton skipper Stef Lee earning himself a yellow card. Bitton bossed the opening exchanges forcing five corners in good time. The first saw Connor Kingdon brilliantly clear off the line from Lee's header while the new look Grove defence dealt well with the others.

Ben Britton made two great stops on the half hour mark, parrying a Lee shot then tipping a Joe Beardwell effort on to the post. Britton's opposite number, Ben Dancey, wasn't having as busy a game but his afternoon ended on 40 minutes when he sustained a leg injury and was replaced in goal by Jacob Watson with Joe Ellis coming on as sub for the keeper. The stand in keeper was called into action right on half time pushing a Pete Sheppard free kick over the bar, the last action of the first half.

Beardwell was thwarted again by Britton saving with his legs on 51 minutes before Hengrove found themselves a man down on 58. Lee was brought down near the corner flag by Doyle who was shown a second yellow by ref Mike Pope. And the hosts made the visitors pay less than two minutes later as Harry Neil slotted home after his first shot was blocked by the legs of Britton.

Lee should have made it 2-0 on 72 minutes but the cross from the left wing hit the bar, then the post, deceiving the big striker who could only head tamely wide. Hengrove made four more subs to keep things fresh and one of those, Aidan Jones, grabbed a sensational equaliser with six minutes of normal time remaining. Grove were awarded a free kick 35 yards from goal, way out wide, and Jones completely deceived the deputy keeper by striking a beauty into the corner of the net to make it 1-1.

Shortly after, Beardwell who had no luck in front of goal all afternoon, saw his header strike the base of the post but for all Bitton's superior chance count, a neutral would have conceded that the visitors' efforts deserved a point.