By Nick Veale
•
31 Aug, 2021
Since I last provided an update, the 1st XI have played three matches in a week and currently sit at the top of the Hellenic League Premier Division after winning all three. Last Tuesday evening saw the visit of Premier Division newcomers from up the A38, as Thornbury Town visited the Lawns to renew a local rivalry from our days in the Gloucestershire County League. The scoring was opened in the tenth minute following a corner from Josh Bennett. His excellent delivery was headed down by Ross McErlain and Ryan Crouch pounced on the rebound from a defensive block. Thornbury had some good periods in the remainder of the first half but were thwarted by some good saves from Liam Kingston in the Cribbs goal. The second period was dominated by Cribbs and the lead was extended early in the second half as former Glass forward Ryan Radford grabbed his first goal for our club. A good cross from Nick Jones on the left saw Ryan get in front of the defender, control the ball nicely and slot home cooly. Numerous chances fell our way after the second goal but our lead was not increased until the last ten minutes. Former Cribbs defender Tom Bradley was caught flat-footed and turned a cross from Radford into his own net. There was no further scoring and the match ended in a comfortable three nil victory. On Saturday, we were visited by another local rival in the form of Roman Glass St George. The first twenty or so minutes of the game were fairly open and both sides got the ball into wide areas, but the final ball wasn't quite there. On the half an hour, the ball was played to Ali Boyer in the penalty area and after creating some space with neat footwork, he scored the first goal of the match with a shot from the left hand side of the six yard box across the keeper. The lead was extended just before half time following a run down the left from Steve Murray, which saw him square to Jake Hodgson who calmly passed the ball into the corner of the net. The second half saw us create a plethora of chances and the third goal was added by former Roman Glass star Ryan Radford. The away side misplaced a pass, creating an opening for a through ball to Radford, who ran in on goal and curled the ball beyond the advancing keeper. The defensive copybook was blotted as the Glass grabbed a late consolation goal, after some intricate passing on the edge of the box saw Rhys Sarson slot home from eight yards. Bank Holiday Monday's trip to Chipping Sodbury did not go entirely to plan after Lewis Hedges was dismissed after twenty minutes. The Sodbury player made a late challenge on him and the reaction earnt him an early shower. Chipping Sodbury have put together a talented array of forward talent and even with eleven men we could have been in for a difficult afternoon. However, our ten men adjusted immediately to the set back of losing Lewis, making themselves compact and relying on the pace of Murray for some respite from Sodbury's domination of possession. We continued to look a threat on the counter attack and on half an hour we took a deserved lead. A kick upfield from the goalkeeper Liam Kingston was nodded on by Hodgson and Murray ran in between the centre backs to slot beyond the Sodbury gloves man. Things improved further before half time as a long punt from Kingston saw Radford out muscle the Sodbury centre back. He then half volleyed the ball across the keeper from the right hand edge of the six yard box for our second goal. Aware that Sodbury were going to come at us hard in the second half, manager Richard Luffman made a couple of tactical adjustments to ensure we protected our hard earned lead. Early joy almost came the home side's way after a foul on the edge of the box led to a free kick being crashed against the post, but after this some resolute defending kept them at arm's length. The visitors were in Seventh Heaven with around 20 minutes to go. Good work from Murray had found Ryan Cainey free in the penalty box, but his attempt to place his shot was pushed away by the keeper for a corner to Cribbs. Josh Bennett delivered the ball deep into the box, where the hard working Ali Boyer was waiting to head the ball into the six yard box. The goal poacher Murray reacted quickest to seal the victory. More gloss could have been added to the victory after the Sodbury centre back headed the ball into the path of Boyer whose sharp reactions saw him lob the keeper. Sadly he couldn't grab the goal his phenomenal efforts deserved as the ball bounced agonisingly wide. It was a magnificent performance from the ten men and the win sees the us top of the table as we go into Saturday's away match at Hereford Lads Club. In a good day for the club, yesterday evening saw the Under 18s side win 5-2 in their FA Youth Cup match against Wells City. Our other two adult sides commence their season in the Bristol Premier Combination on Saturday afternoon. The 2nd XI travel to Seymour United and the 3rd XI play Shirehampton Reserves at the Lawn. Good luck to both sets of lads. Enjoy the new season. UTC