City stickers routed (From Gazette Series)

City stickers routed

Hereford/Glos Division One Wotton-under-Edge II 6 Gloucester City III 1

A THREE-GOAL salvo in the opening ten minutes put Wotton seconds on their way to a 6-1 win over Gloucester City thirds that consolidated their position as league leaders.

The Blues put the previous week's goalless draw behind them and produced their best attacking form of the season.

Judging the mood of the squad to perfection, Wotton captain Chris Price switched to a 4-3-3 formation, opting for all out attack.

His players rewarded him by producing some outstanding hockey, leaving the visitors dead and buried by the tenth minute.

Darren Pearce opened the scoring with a Stuart Emms penalty corner doubling the lead soon after.

Pete Grey's goal from another penalty corner left a shell-shocked City defending very deep in their own half.

Gloucester attempted to get back into the game by hitting their forwards long on the break but Wotton's defence was equal to the task, with right back Neil Curtis providing an extra attacking option down the wing.

Grey continued to be the conduit for Wotton's attacks, creating space by playing a deeper than normal midfield role.

City got one back but Mark Grey came off the bench in the second half to score a magnificent goal from Simon Fell's powerful cross and scorer then turned provider after a great run down the right to set up skipper Price who made it 5-1.

Cruickshank, Fell and Hammond combined well to win a series of penalty corners for the hosts and Pete Grey pounced on a rebound from Emms' straight strike at the near post to score his second and seal a memorable victory.