BRIDPORT 0 BUCKLAND 1

BITTON 1 BRIDPORT 2

TREVOR Senior is confident Steve Smith will prove a big hit at St Mary’s Field during his loan stay.

The Wimborne Town forward has joined the Bees for a month and already the Bridport boss is eyeing a possible extension.

Smith scored on his debut in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Bitton and he is someone the club has been tracking for a long time.

Senior said: “We managed to get Steve in late last week and I am delighted to have him on board.

“He scored a lot of goals for Poole Town a few years back and he is someone I have been keeping my eye on for a while. He is also really good mates with Jamie and Sam Filkins.

“We have initially got him for a month but I am hoping I might be able to keep him a bit longer.”

Senior is waiting to find out whether Smith will be available for Saturday’s FA Cup tie at home to Merthyr Town (3pm).

A big crowd is expected at St Mary’s Field for the preliminary round clash with £1,925 on offer for the winners as well as a place in the draw for first-round qualifying.

And Senior knows that his team can’t afford to turn in a performance like the one they gave against Buckland Athlteic on Tuesday night if they want to progress in the competition.

Jamie Micklewhite’s first-minute goal was enough to give Buckland the three points but it could have been a lot worse for the Bees.

The match was less than 60 seconds old when the away side took the lead, Micklewright finishing neatly in the box after a good passing move which started in defence.

Buckland might have gone further in front in the first half while the hosts struggled to produce anything in terms of chances.

Things didn’t really improve for the Bees after the interval and Jamie Filkins’ miscued effort at the far post was about as good as it got for them.

“To be fair, 1-0 flattered us and it could have been 4-0 or 5-0,” said Senior. “Buckland are a good side and they played really well.

“Their movement and passing was good and we didn’t play at all, but then they didn’t allow us to.

“They played with a good tempo and worked hard off the ball.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to hold your hands up and say you were beaten by the better side on the day.”

He went on to add: “I think they will be near the top at the end of the season though I said the same thing about them last season as well. They had so many games called off that when they tried to catch up with the other teams they didn’t do so well.

“We were looking to build on our win on Saturday but we were lucky it was only 1-0.

“If we play like that against Merthyr in the cup this Saturday we could be looking at a cricket score.”

The league victory at Bitton was the Bees’ first of the season and they had to come from behind to achieve it.

Bridport were somewhat unlucky to go a goal down when Sam Filkins could only parry a long-range effort and the rebound was dispatched.

Sam Charles went close with a couple of chances before Smith levelled from inside the six-yard box after Chris Clarke had headed the ball across goal.

The game became scrappy either side of the break and it took a run from Max Buckler to bring about the Bees’ second goal.

He went down in the box under a challenge and Dan Wise made no mistake.

Smith was then upended in the area but this time there was no spot-kick for the visitors.

Bees (team for Merthyr, from): S Filkins, J Filkins, C Clarke, Evans, M Buckler, Hayter, Legg, Wise, Watts, Charles, Hill, Smith, Condliffe, Morley, Staines, Lock, Senior