A solitary Graham Mercieca goal mid-way through the first half was enough to gain Town three points and move them up in to third place in the table at Fairfax Park on Tuesday night writes Brian Austin.
On a dry cool breezy evening and with the new stand looking pristine under the lights, the scene was set for the first ever visit to Bridgwater of Hungerford Town.
The game began with Bridgwater doing all the attacking and Foster in the Hungerford goal was soon in action, saving,first from Trowbridge and soon after from a Beadle header.Chris Young had the ball in the net after nine minutes but his effort was ruled out by the assistant referee's flag for off-side.
Towns early pressure failed to bring the early goal their approach play deserved and Hungerford relieved some of the pressure by mounting the occasional attack which came to nothing and failed to trouble Manley in the Town goal.
In the 18th minute Mercieca tried his luck with a 25 yard dipping shot from the left but the ball just cleared the bar with Foster beaten.
Play moved to the other end and Tom Manley pulled off a miraculous save as Hungerford were awarded a free kick just outside the area.Halliday hit it left footed and the ball looked to be screaming into the top corner before Manley flew high to his right,just managed to get his finger tips to it and deflect it onto the cross bar and over.
Town went back on the attack and neat interchanges in midfield failed to create a clear opening.
On twenty three minutes Town finally took the lead when Young expertly set Mercieca away on a run.The speedy winger out stripped two defenders before bursting into the penalty area and firing past Foster.
Town played some lovely football and Trowbridge,Kirk and Beadle moved the ball well from area to area but too often Towns eager forwards and Pepperell in particular,were caught off-side by the Hungerford defence.
The second half followed a similar pattern with Town pressing to extend their meagre lead. On fifty minutes ,Young,who once again worked tirelessly in the cause,had a half chance when put through but was unable to lift the ball over the advancing keeper and ten minutes later the same player almost muscled his way through a packed defence but was just unable to provide the finishing touch.
As the half went on some of Town's play became scrappy and Hungerford started to come more into the game and Manley was again at his best as he saved well at the foot of the post at the expense of a corner.
Young gave way to Duharty on 72 minutes and the captain left the field to a good ovation which his efforts merited but Town were reduced to break aways as Hungerford pressed for the equaliser.
Robertson was brought on for Beadle to play in a defencive mid field role but Duharty should have doubled Town's advantage with six minutes left on the clock.Pepperell broke clear down the right before cutting inside and crossing to the unmarked striker but,with the goal at his mercy,he headed over.
Hungerford then laid siege to the Bridgwater goal and looked to have equalised when Halliday broke through but the outstanding Villis timed his tackle to perfection to prevent a certain goal.
Town again caught Hungerford on the break just before the final whistle and Pepperell went close to making the game safe but his deft chip passed just the wrong side of the post.
Bridgwater played the better football throughout and deserved the points but full credit to Hungerford who worked hard in their attempts to salvage something from the game.