Gloucester B 0-2 Newbury
On a sunny, yet deceptively chilly morning, the GPSFA B Side welcomed a strong Newbury team to a Longlevens pitch that was being voiced as, "looking in beautiful condition.” Sadly, however, the game didn't go as planned from the home team’s perspective.
In a tie that saw little goal mouth action, Newbury, wearing green, started the stronger of the two and subsequently forced several errors from the Bs. With Newbury continuously attacking Gloucester's half, the Yellows somehow stayed resolute. The Berkshire outfit though looked very dangerous at corners, springing a number of efforts towards goal to send out a warning to the hosts. Luckily, however, few looked too damaging.
Pressure eventually counted after good work from Newbury's backline quickly moved them forwards. Miller passed to Abbey who came in from the left side and with one touch to set himself and a superbly struck shot from outside the area into the top corner, Gloucester found themselves behind.
Gloucester did try to hit back. With Lock trying to hold the ball up front, he was quite isolated at times until he found himself running through at goal. Maybe having one touch too many, his shot was saved by the Newbury keeper and pushed away for a corner. A great ball in by Flatt found its way to Easterbrook on the edge of the area. His shot looked destined for the top corner of the net until the crossbar got in the way.
The second half continued in the same vain with Gloucester having to try and steal the ball off Newbury whenever possible. Newbury though quickly made it two after another strike from outside the box by Page went over the top of Cornwell and into the net. With Abbey continuing to pester Gloucester's defence, Cornwell was called into action on several occasions to deny the visitors a third.
However, it was Abbey again who nearly made it three to the away team when a long ball over the top wasn't dealt with. Abbey quickly pounced onto the bouncing ball and lobbed over Cornwell, only for the post to save Gloucester's blushes.
Courtesy of another corner for Gloucester, the final chance of the match fell to Taylor. A ball whipped in by Easterbrook hit Taylor from three yards out, but his mid-air toe-poke sadly evaded the goal and kept the score at 2-0.
A special mention is needed for Campbell who gave one of the best individual performances seen so far this season. In a game where the opposition bossed play, Gloucester needed someone to take the game back to Newbury. His will to cover the length of the field, efforts to try and play some football, but most of all, desire to win the crunching tackles when needed was shown when the game finished and he was the only one who could hardly catch his breath.
Hopefully, a valuable lesson learnt for the Gloucester boys and good luck to Newbury in the next round of the Shires Cup.
Gloucester: Cornwell; Harding, Irvine, Cooper; Inyinbor, Taylor, Arrowsmith, Easterbrook; Lock. Subs: Fieldhouse, Flatt, Campbell.
In a tie that saw little goal mouth action, Newbury, wearing green, started the stronger of the two and subsequently forced several errors from the Bs. With Newbury continuously attacking Gloucester's half, the Yellows somehow stayed resolute. The Berkshire outfit though looked very dangerous at corners, springing a number of efforts towards goal to send out a warning to the hosts. Luckily, however, few looked too damaging.
Pressure eventually counted after good work from Newbury's backline quickly moved them forwards. Miller passed to Abbey who came in from the left side and with one touch to set himself and a superbly struck shot from outside the area into the top corner, Gloucester found themselves behind.
Gloucester did try to hit back. With Lock trying to hold the ball up front, he was quite isolated at times until he found himself running through at goal. Maybe having one touch too many, his shot was saved by the Newbury keeper and pushed away for a corner. A great ball in by Flatt found its way to Easterbrook on the edge of the area. His shot looked destined for the top corner of the net until the crossbar got in the way.
The second half continued in the same vain with Gloucester having to try and steal the ball off Newbury whenever possible. Newbury though quickly made it two after another strike from outside the box by Page went over the top of Cornwell and into the net. With Abbey continuing to pester Gloucester's defence, Cornwell was called into action on several occasions to deny the visitors a third.
However, it was Abbey again who nearly made it three to the away team when a long ball over the top wasn't dealt with. Abbey quickly pounced onto the bouncing ball and lobbed over Cornwell, only for the post to save Gloucester's blushes.
Courtesy of another corner for Gloucester, the final chance of the match fell to Taylor. A ball whipped in by Easterbrook hit Taylor from three yards out, but his mid-air toe-poke sadly evaded the goal and kept the score at 2-0.
A special mention is needed for Campbell who gave one of the best individual performances seen so far this season. In a game where the opposition bossed play, Gloucester needed someone to take the game back to Newbury. His will to cover the length of the field, efforts to try and play some football, but most of all, desire to win the crunching tackles when needed was shown when the game finished and he was the only one who could hardly catch his breath.
Hopefully, a valuable lesson learnt for the Gloucester boys and good luck to Newbury in the next round of the Shires Cup.
Gloucester: Cornwell; Harding, Irvine, Cooper; Inyinbor, Taylor, Arrowsmith, Easterbrook; Lock. Subs: Fieldhouse, Flatt, Campbell.
