Gloucestershire County League

Thornbury Town 3 Berkeley Town 2

THORNBURY Town were coasting to victory after 20 minutes in their local derby with Berkeley Town after racing into a 3-0 lead.

Danny Haines and Josh Pirie had both gone close before Thorns opened the scoring after 11 minutes when Rob Wilks rounded a Berkeley defender on the right side of the box and then fired a low shot across the face of the goal that struck the upright on its way in.

Berkeley found it difficult to contain Thorns' high tempo game and it was no surprise that the hosts extended their lead five minutes later when Nathan Sage headed home an in-swinging corner from Danny Haines at the far post.

Thornbury continued to push forward in search of more goals against a visibly shaken Berkeley defence and were rewarded in the 18th minute when Tom Webb set Luke Franklin free down the left and he drifted past a number of defenders before steering the ball wide of Ashley Collard in the Berkeley goal to make it 3-0.

However Town’s impressive start was disrupted by a number of injuries and whilst they maintained the pressure on the Berkeley defence the closest they came to extending their lead further was a Wilks shot that went across the face of the goal.

Having used all their substitutes by half-time, Thorns' rhythm was disrupted further ten minutes into the second period when influential midfielder Danny Haines received a red card for a bad tackle.

Further injuries effectively reduced Thorns to eight fit men and Berkeley took full advantage, dominating the last 25 minutes of the game.

Thorns' defence held firm until the 75th minute when Berkeley pulled a goal back, Dan Gaynor prodding the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble.

The hosts responded almost immediately, Danny Thompson’s shot from Toby Bennett’s through ball being scrambled away by Collard.

Alex Lippiatt pulled off a couple of smart saves before Berkeley pulled another goal back five minutes from time when Mike Reece scrambled the ball home from a corner.

Scott McLeod had a great chance to wrap the game up for Thorns in the dying moments, but having rounded Collard could only find the side netting.

Nevertheless, it was a welcome three points for Thornbury, who face a difficult trip to free scoring Bristol Telephones this Saturday, 3pm.