Stand-in management duo lift Wisloe Road spirits (From Gazette Series)

Stand-in management duo lift Wisloe Road spirits

Slimbridge 3 Bishops Cleeve 0

SLIMBRIDGE'S stand-in management duo of John Hamilton and Tom Radcliffe have every reason to be proud of the team effort on Saturday.

Goals from Jon Embling, Adam Philp and Matt Green helped 'Bridge to a battling win against a dogged Cleeve side that worked hard but could not find a way past home custodian Ryan Chandler all afternoon.

The order of the day for both sides seemed to be to keep plenty of bodies behind the ball at all times, and so subsequently there was not a lot of goalmouth action, although on 13 minutes an inswinging corner from Steve Badham saw Phil Ward's backpost header scrambled away from the Cleeve goalline.

A bout of Cleeve pressure ensued, with skipper Andy Tucker prominent in forcing the Slimbridge backline to work overtime to deny any clear shooting opportunities, until the home side suddenly broke out of their shackles to win a free kick on the edge of the Cleeve area, plum in front of goal.

Up stepped Embling to hit a rising shot that flew into the top corner of the net, beating the defensive wall and unsighted keeper Jon Skeen, and Slimbridge were ahead on 28 minutes.

This led to an immediate response from the Hellenic League Premier Division's third-placed team, and Billy Davis was dispossessed by a tremendous tackle from Jamie Inch when within sight of a clear shot at goal.

After the restart, both sides kept things tight and the ball regularly visited both halves of the field without finding an opening, until James Vercesi managed to get up the left flank but a weak shot was gratefully gobbled up by Chandler.

The killer blow for Cleeve came 11 minutes from time and was a tragedy for the visitors as defender Joe Egleton and keeper Skeen seemed to leave the ball for each other and in nipped young substitute Philp to curl the ball around the diving Skeen from the edge of the box to double the home lead.

Cleeve gamely battled on, but Slimbridge found some long lost confidence to up the work rate and the icing on the cake arrived in added-on time, with Chandler's long punt upfield taking one bounce before finding Matt Green, who breathtakingly danced through three tackles to plant the ball high into the net past an exposed Skeen.

Tucker and Mitch Counsell were industrious workers for the away side, while John Hills made a number of surging runs that on another day may have brought some reward. For Slimbridge, the pendulum swung their way after a good work rate from the whole team and some solid defending, which was the launchpad for victory.

Phil Ward, starting as a makeshift centre forward and ultimately completing the game in his more normal defensive role, caught the eye, but it was a truly hard-working effort that finally won the day against respected county rivals.

At the top of the Premier Division, more drama has ensued in the fight for the Hellenic championship, with leaders Highworth Town falling 1-0 at Fairford Town. This opened the door once again for FA Vase finalists Didcot Town, who were 3-1 winners at Pegasus Juniors as the last week of the season beckons.

Slimbridge: Chandler, Sterling, Embling, Pritchett, Darby, P Ward, E Ward, Inch (Rieger 72), Matt Green, Radcliffe (Philp 62), Badham.

L On Saturday, Slimbridge conclude the season by hosting a Hellenic Premier game against Henley Town at Wisloe Road (3pm).

Slimbridge, as a result of a quirk in the fixture list, won the reverse fixture at Henley 4-1 on the opening day of the season.

But a change of manager and almost a different team since then makes any forecast difficult. However, both sides will no doubt want to finish on a high, so a lively encounter is likely to ensue.