WOTTON may have been forgiven for a lack of match practice having not played since mid-December, but James Cruickshank did not show any signs of rustiness as he put Gwent to the sword with four goals.
In a free flowing game, Wotton opened the scoring from a Cruickshank penalty flick after Gwent had stopped the ball on the line with a foot.
A second goal for Wotton came soon after with a Cruickshank short corner.
This was never going to be a low scoring match and Gwent quickly retaliated with an easy tap-in after a communication mix-up in the Wotton defence.
Chances continued to come for both teams with Price missing an opportunity to add one with his reverse stick and Timoney making a couple of decent saves at the other end.
The second half carried on in an attacking manner but it was Gwent who started the stronger and a quick breakaway goal set Wotton back.
Wotton continued to dominate possession without really having that cutting edge and it was another set piece which gave the Blues the lead.
With Journaux about to take a shot on goal in the D, a Gwent player intentionally used the back of his stick to hit the ball away and the inevitable penalty flick followed, which Cruickshank finished with minimal fuss.
This was now a time for Wotton to shut up shop but again Gwent showed their resilience with another goal, this time from a short corner.
Cruickshank was given the chance to make it four when once again Gwent used an intentional back stick in the D.
The Gwent ‘keeper was found wanting and the score moved to 4-3.
It did not stop there, however. With ten minutes to go Gwent forced an equaliser to ensure a frantic finale for this spectacular match.
It looked as though it might just end up being one of those days for Wotton but with 20 seconds remaining Andy Stockley popped up in the D to calmly place the ball underneath the Gwent ‘keeper to ensure the win and three vital points towards Wotton’s promotion push.
Man of the Match: James Cruickshank
Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Division 2 Wotton-under-Edge A 5 Gloucester City C 1
With only two senior outfield players available, Wotton’s talented younger players rose magnificently to the challenge of playing league leaders Gloucester, outplaying them for virtually the whole game with superb passing and movement.
The Blues dominated the first half in terms of possession and territorial advantage but Gloucester defended well and only a single goal by Tom Cantle from a well-struck penalty corner separated the sides at half-time.
Gloucester were rewarded for a brief period of pressure early in the second half when they equalised from a penalty corner. Thereafter the midfield trio of Aaron Sycamore, Tom Cantle and Charlie Patteson gained total dominance in the midfield.
It still took the move of the game to regain the lead when the ball was switched with pace across Wotton’s defence to Will Bugg, who linked with Sycamore to slice through the visitors’ defence, setting up Henry Collins with a chance that he took superbly.
The Blues found it increasingly easy to get good passes into Gloucester’s D and Jamie Gosling showed his striker’s instinct to pounce on an opportunity in front of goal and increase the lead.
Greg Willcox added a fourth with a trademark turn and lofted a shot into the roof of the net.
Collins rounded off a great second half performance when he latched onto a defence-splitting pass and coolly slotted a shot just inside the post for his second goal.
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