Final beckons for Dursley (From Gazette Series)

Final beckons for Dursley

GFA North Senior Amateur Cup Semi-Final Dursley Town 2 Lydbrook Athletic 0

SECOND half goals from Martin Booth and Rich Gillingham gave Dursley Town a 2-0 win over Lydbrook Athletic that booked their place in the county cup final.

Town began the game as underdogs following their recent 2-0 defeat at Lydbrook but, as in the previous rounds of the competition, they raised their game on the big occasion.

Dursley started well with Paul Little, Tim Woodward and Lee Thomas denying the visiting midfield any time and space in which to play.

The home side dominated early possession without creating any clear cut chances and looked to have fallen behind after 30 minutes when a Lydbrook striker seized on a loose ball and skipped past two challenges before firing into the far corner.

However, the away side were incensed to see the referee, after consultation with his assistant, disallow the goal for a reckless foul off the ball on Town midfielder Anthony Nash.

Dursley raised their game after the break and took the lead after 55 minutes when Nash picked the ball up in midfield and evaded two tackles before threading a pass through for Booth.

The Dursley player-manager raced onto the pass and sidefooted the ball under the goalkeeper to give his side the lead.

Athletic were stung into action by this but, despite putting Town under pressure, they could not create any chances against the Dursley defence, which was expertly dominated by man of the match Gillingham in partnership with Rich Crowcombe, Chris Lindsay and Chris Wilkins.

Dursley soaked up the pressure and were presented with a chance of their own with 15 minutes left when the away side conceded a free-kick on the edge of the area.

Gillingham stepped up and curled a perfect shot into the top corner to seal the victory.

Player-manager Booth said: "We owe this win to a fantastic team performance in which every player performed well.

"We continue to produce massive performances in cup games. It has been a very difficult run in this cup and I am pleased to have another cup final to look forward to.

"My aim now is to keep this level of performance up until the final.

"We seem to fair quite well against the Division One teams, so I am quietly confident."