Uhlsport Somerset Division One: Combe St Nicholas FC 2-1 Saltford

Combe returned from the festive break with a tough test against high flying Saltford Firsts, who sit third in Division 1 of the Somerset County League.

Combe elected to play down the slope in the first half and started slowly, with the visitors starting better off, seeing an early break halted by the offside flag.

Moments later on 9 minutes, Combe conceded from a goal mouth scramble. A late offside flag was overlooked by the referee and it looked like it could have been a long day for the Saints.

However in the second half Combe came out the blocks flying with early chances for Jamie Brown and Kieran Willmington.

Combe started to dominate possession and soon made their deserved break through when the ball was recycled to captain Oli Hine, who curled a beauty towards goal which bamboozled the keeper and nestled into the net after he let fly from 25 yards.

Saltford pushed immediately but ran up against a solid back four of Jamie Lillington, Ayrton White, Michael O'Hagan and Oli Hine, and Combe soon took the lead when Wael Elkahla played Jamie Brown in to fire low past the keeper.

Combe have no fixture next week, before travelling to Saltford in two weeks time for the reverse fixture, where Saltford will surely be looking for revenge!