Football: Title is in sight as Thornbury thrash Axa (From Gazette Series)

Gloucestershire County League: Thornbury Town 5 Axa 0

4:51pm Wednesday 12th May 2010 in Sport

Thornbury Town’s relentless pursuit of the Gloucestershire County League title continued on Tuesday night when they comfortably beat Axa to record their ninth successive win.

Thorns dominated play from the start knowing that only a win was good enough to keep their title hopes alive.

They enter their last game of the season against Taverners next Tuesday, May 18 (6.30pm), knowing that a win will secure the title for the first time in their history.

Thorns took the lead in the seventh minute. Sam Lippiatt’s header from midfield fell to Steve Alexander and the big striker outpaced his marker and lobbed the Axa keeper.

Danny Thompson almost doubled the lead a couple of minutes later after a mazy run through the visitors defence, but the keeper got down well to save his shot.

Ten minutes before the break Thorns got the goal they deserved when man of the match Matt Morrison collected the ball in the area and then jinked his way through the defence before volleying into the net for his first goal of the season.

The second half had an explosive start with Thorns scoring after ten seconds.

From the kick-off the ball was played to Alexander who back heeled it into the path of Danny Thompson. The diminutive striker pushed the ball through to Artem Azytskyi, who took a couple of paces before driving home.

A minute later Azytskyi found the net again when Steve Alexander’s through ball fell into the Ukrainian striker’s path and he took the ball wide of his defender before firing home.

James DeRosa went close with a header from Tom Webb’s cross, and Steve Alexander was foiled twice by the keeper when through on goal.

Thorns wrapped the game up in the 86th minute when Ashley Lloyd’s free kick was met by a firm header from Pete Fowler at the far post, giving the keeper no chance.

Patchway Town 0 Thornbury Town 3

A determined second half performance saw Thornbury gain a comfortable win at Scott Park.

Town took the lead when Christian Irwin’s cross from the right was met by Danny Thompson, whose firm downward header gave Alford no chance.

On 70 minutes Thorns doubled their lead when Artem Azytskyi was brought down from behind by Nick Rugman in the penalty area. The striker picked himself up and buried the spot kick into the corner of the net.

Ten minutes later Patchway went down to 10 men when a defender was sent off for swinging a punch at Sammy Lippiatt.

Thorns got a deserved third goal when Azytskyi’s through ball found Steve Alexander, who took the ball round the keeper’s despairing dive and slotted the ball into the empty net.

l Thornbury Reserves ended their season with an emphatic 6 -1 win against Coaley Rovers to secure a fifth place finish in Stroud Division Two.

A superb second half to the season has seen the reserves steadily climb the table to their best league placing for a number of years and provide a platform for a promotion push next season.