12th April - Tytherington edge closer to safety
Mark Simpson
Not much happening at the top this weekend but Filton Athletic’s chances of winning the title were dealt a serious blow in midweek with a defeat against Tytherington Rocks. At the bottom there were defeats for Hanham, Totterdown, Cribbs and Ruardean Hill with only Tytherington gaining a point.
At Hardwicke Tytherington Rocks were looking to build on four wins in a row against Broadwell Amateurs. The weather was perfect for football and Tytherington took an early lead when right back Mat Sumner hit a 30-yard looping shot over Jack Watkins. Tytherington created a few more chances but were unable to double the lead going into half time. After the break Broadwell pushed for an equaliser but were unable to break Rocks defence. The game became a bit stop start with fouls being committed by the home side giving Broadwell opportunities to push for a goal and they made it count in the 70th minute when a free kick just outside the box was smashed in by Jordi Locke. No clear chances were made by either team after that with both settling for a point.
On a day when the weather couldn’t decide what it wanted to do at Arnall Drive, Henbury & Rockleaze decided they wanted the points against Hanham Athletic. Hanham made the better start with early pressure but couldn’t test stand-in keeper Lewis Jefferies. The first decent chance fell to H&R’s Drew Sawdon who saw his header fly just wide from Nick Jones free kick. On 26 minutes Hanham took the lead with H&R’s defence looking at the flag and not playing to the whistle Preston Webb struck the crossbar with a rasping effort and Liam Maggs was on hand to tap home. Just a minute later H&R equalised when Sawdon battled to win the ball back and fired superbly past Ashton Trott. On 43 minutes Danny Burd’s effort was well saved by Trott and Hanham went up the other end with Jefferies making an outstanding stop to keep out Webb’s header. H&R started the second half much the stronger and on 51 minutes Trott did really well to save a Jones free kick and on 70 minutes he turned what looked like a certain goal from Burd around the post. With H&R piling on the pressure the returning Joe Hodson won the game in the 87th minute after Adam Ogden slipped him in and his delicate dink was good enough to beat the superb Trott to ensure the 3 points went to H&R. Hanham certainly played their part in a decent game of football, but one that H&R deserved to win due to their second half performance.
With the Wick pitch in superb condition the Owls welcomed Ruardean Hill Rangers to the Nest in somewhat blustery conditions and Hill elected to play against the wind in the first half. The first chance fell to Wick in the fifth minute when a shot was deflected wide and three minutes later Sam Archer delivered a great cross which was turned in by Cory Langdon at the far post to open Wick’s account. On 20 minutes Ruardean broke quickly but the shot was across the face of goal and two minutes later a good advantage by the Referee allowed Archer to break free and deliver a superb ball to Langdon who made no mistake in slotting past Underwood for his and Wick’s second. On 30 minutes a great cross found Langdon again only for him head over. 3 minutes later an under hit back pass forced Mason Hawkins out of his box to clear, but he only found a Ruardean forward, but luckily for Wick, his lobbed shot hit the underside of the bar and went out to safety. However, on 42 minutes Wick gifted the ball to Hill’s Charley Mason who rushed through holding off two defenders and fired past Hawkins clawing a goal back. Things could have got better for Hill when a great shot from distance produced an equally good save from Hawkins. The second half was fairly end to end and a 50th minute Wick free kick just cleared the bar, a 55th minute Hill effort was well saved by Hawkins, and 2 minutes later a Wick free kick was spilt by Underwood and the loose ball shot blocked. On the hour a long punt by Underwood set Steve Clarke free and his header went just wide and a few minutes later Archer put Langdon through whose shot beat Underwood but not the post. The game petered out a little until the final moments when both sides went near, but Wick held on to three points with a 2-1 win.
Cribbs Reserves made their first trip to Northway to play Tewkesbury Town. Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Town put eight past Cribbs only for the three points to be chalked off for a registration issue. However, it didn’t take long for Town to notch their first, Lee Llewellyn pitched in a flat corner for Scott Nicolls to use his height to power in a header. Town’s second came from Alex Roder managing to control the ball in the box and laying off to Joe Peachey to slot in. With the downhill wind Cribbs struggled to get forward, but did manage one chance with a header striking the bar and over. Cam Anderson was brought down for a Town penalty right on half time with Jamie Goodwin converting. In the second half Town were soon on the score sheet, Roder controlling well then opening his body to lay in Goodwin who slotted in to the bottom corner. Goodwin made it five for Town after some great attacking play, with Anderson nudging it down for him to convert for his hat-trick. In the last 15 minutes Cribbs applied pressure but couldn’t break the Town defence, and Tewkesbury moved up to second in the table with this 5-0 win.
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue) - Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
Tewkesbury Town (Yellow) v Cribbs Reserves (Blue), Images courtesy Peter Langley
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The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze in the air for Frampton United’s visit to Norton Lane to take on Totterdown United. Not much happened in the first half hour with both teams cancelling each other out, before an early ball played between the Totterdown left back and centre back with Wiltshire getting back to make a tackle on the edge of the box but the Frampton attacker got there first and a penalty was awarded which Hawes tucked away. Right-on half-time Martin made a great save to prevent a Frampton second. The second half began with not much action outside of a few corners and Totterdown made some changes to try and get hold of the game and shots from Price and Saunders were well saved by Kaye and a deep cross from the edge of the box looked to be dropping on Saunders’ head but Kaye got his hand to it. Ten minutes from time Frampton broke and won a corner which wasn’t cleared allowing Halsey to tap in for 2-0. Totterdown’s heads dropped and despite a few more changes Mangan managed to run through without any significant challenge and slotted past Martin for 3-0. A bad day at the office for Totterdown but the do have a game in hand on Cribbs who are just above them.
A bright sunny afternoon at the SGS stadium with a strong swirling wind not helping playing conditions for Bishops Cleeve Development’s trip to play Stoke Gifford SGS United. A fairly even start to the game with the first opportunity falling to Gifford’s Matt Harmer whose 15th minute shot was well held by Cam Cheal in the Cleeve goal. Minutes later, however, Solomon Osinuga seized on a mix-up in the Gifford defence to calmly slot home for Cleeve, breaking the deadlock. Gifford stepped up their efforts and enjoyed much the greater possession but were unable to take any advantage until they nearly equalised on the stroke of half-time when Dan Twomey had his effort cleared off the line by Fin Smith. The second half was a one-sided affair from the off. Goals from Archie Tucker and Osinuga in the opening five minutes put Cleeve well in command. Monty New and a Harry Davis double completed a 6-0 rout against a very out of form Gifford team.
Chalford’s outing at Highfield Way against Quedgeley Wanderers ended in a tough 5-1 defeat in a match that ultimately swung on a pivotal red card despite an encouraging start from the hosts. Chalford started the game on the front foot showing early intent and energy that put QW under pressure. However, against the run of play, Quedgeley were awarded a penalty when midfielder Keylock thought he was in goal and the spot kick was converted by Miles and Keylock red-carded. Despite the setback Chalford responded well but struggled a little in front of goal despite looking the more threatening of the teams for large periods. Quedgeley began to take advantage of numerical superiority and the second half told a different story. Early in this period Quedgeley extended their advantage to 3-0 with Jenner and Stokes scoring before Kerr pulled one back for Chalford briefly offering hope of a comeback which was nearly realised when they struck the crossbar. But, pushing forward left them exposed at the back and they were punished on the counter-attack with Keith making it 4-1. The visitors rounded off the scoring late on through Osabuohien to seal a comprehensive 5-1 victory. The scoreline was rather harsh on Chalford with the self-inflicted red card proving decisive.
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