B VS ST ALBANS OCT 20

The home of GPSFA looked resplendent for the visit of St Albans. With a full set of advertising boards surrounding a pitch in superb condition, the scene was set for the B Team’s first official home game of the season. The only things missing from the full GPSFA experience were the pavilion activities.

Chances were limited during the opening exchanges as both sides felt their way into this Cotswold Challenge Shield contest. The visitors settled sooner and it was no surprise that they took the lead following a neat passing move. What was a surprise though was that the home side hit back almost immediately. A strong run down the left by Jonny was turned round the post and the home side pressed from the corner and subsequent play giving Hill the opportunity to smash home from close range. Gloucester were indebted to ‘keeper Aitchenson for two saves in quick succession. The second save drew gasps from the assembled socially distanced crowd, diving to his left and clawing out a certain goal from the top corner. He was given no chance a few minutes later when a low strike from the edge of the area hit the bottom corner of the net to give the Saints the lead once again. Jonny set about making the linesman (I hate the term referee’s assistant) go through his excersises, well raising his flag every few seconds to catch the speedy striker offside. After the 73rd time the offside rule was explained to him. It did not help. After the match, he and his mum were given extra homework to understand the offside rules. Gloucester equalised just before halftime. A precise cross-field pass from Clarke found Hill, and the midfielder coolly controlled the ball and slotted the ball home.

Last ditch tackles were a feature of Harvey’s game at centre-back and two right at the start of the second half helped keep the scores level, although his tendency to continually try and beat his opponent gave his coaches palpitations. Neate and Liggett especially worked hard on the right and their increased competitiveness helped the home side match their counterparts and the game became very even and the game could have gone either way. St Albans just about had the greater desire to win and when a lack of closing down gave them the chance to fire home they took full advantage and once again took the lead. This time though they held out and actually had more opportunities to extend their lead rather than concede an another equaliser. A game that Gloucester could easily have gotten something out of with a little more application finished with a 2-3 defeat.