By Simon Parkinson

CLINICAL Craig Lancastle and his Gloucestershire County League comrades were in explosive form as they comprehensively swept aside Somerset County League 7-1 in Wednesday night’s enjoyable representative spectacle in Almondsbury.

The match was staged in front of a good-sized crowd on the 3G pitch at the Gloucestershire FA’s revamped football centre and was utilised as valuable match practise for both teams ahead of next month’s preliminary round fixtures in this year’s national FA Inter-League Cup tournament for Step 7 clubs.

Gloucestershire have been drawn at home to Dorset League on Saturday, April 11 at the home of Tytherington Rocks (3pm), while Somerset travel to take on Devon and Exeter League on Saturday, April 25 (3pm) at Elmore FC’s Tiverton-based HQ.

The midweek outcome was hardly the ideal spur for Wrington Redhill supremo Smith and his Somerset charges, although he stressed: “We did have three or four senior players absent so it was a predominantly young team playing together for the first time, and the scoreline really didn’t reflect the game.

“Yes, we were naïve at times defensively, but we played with pace and certainly created as many chances as they did; it was just that Gloucestershire were that much more clinical in front of goal.”

And that they were, despite an evenly-contested first half in the main, as Somerset were suddenly hit by a three-goal flurry from their sure-shot opponents around the midway point of the period through two unerring Gary Simmons’ strikes and the impressive Dhani Golding’s clever back-heel into the net, both of whom were afforded far too much room and time to get their finishes away.

Far from outplayed in the opening period, Somerset had their moments too and the busy Charlie Wilson teed up two chances, one leading to Bishops Lydeard team-mate Jack Adams scampering down the left to drive a dangerous ball flat across goal, which evaded everyone inside the box, and another for Watchet Town’s Zac Ryder, whose powerful attempt was well beaten away by Joe Pople.

Gloucestershire had begun the brighter and Danny Coombes fastened on to some more wobbly defending as a long punt forward found its way to him bearing down on goal, but his effort flew into the side netting, while the dangerous Dhani Golding at the back stick was a whisker away from connecting with Simmons’ deep delivery.

Even after inexplicably finding themselves three-adrift, Smith’s men kept trying and Shirehampton’s Ciaran Greening was dismayed to see his dipping effort headed away from underneath the crossbar by an alert defender.

Somerset were given a lifeline at the start of the second half when substitute Matt Connick was unceremoniously upended by Jack Baber inside the box before finishing with some aplomb from the penalty spot.

But they were soon facing an uphill struggle once more as Gloucestershire, managed by Chipping Sodbury Town’s ambitious boss Karl Reese, netted twice more by the 58th-minute mark to lead 5-1, both through Thornbury Town’s exciting forward Lancastle.

The substitute flew out of the blocks as the ball fell loose to him a little inside Somerset territory, before weaving his way in and out of dazzled defenders with a thrilling solo run and then drilling it low past the visitors’ second-half keeper Gary Clarke.

Seven minutes later Lancastle, left in acres of space, was perfectly placed to guide home from close in Kieron Golding’s lofted ball in from the right.

Once more Somerset did their best to respond. Adams’ curling free-kick was tame and comfortable for the hosts’ second-half custodian Tim Griffiths, while Connick’s rasping angled volley was brilliantly turned away by the same leaping Cheltenham Civil Service shot-stopper.

But the Gloucestershire juggernaut continued to roll on relentlessly and they wrapped up an emphatic win with a rising edge-of-the-box rocket by Dhani Golding into the far corner of the net from Lancastle’s astute lay-off, before the lethal Lancastle added a seventh with a simple header into an empty net for his hat-trick goal from Simon Clarke’s right-sided cross.

Their encouraged manager Reese said of the performance: “I was really pleased. We were slow to start with but we grew stronger as we went along and were quite dominant in the end.

“We’re building up nicely to that Dorset game on April 11 and we’ll go into it confident. The individual performances on the night have certainly given me a selection headache.”

Gloucestershire County League: Joe Pople (AEK Boco), Kieron Golding (Bristol Telephones), Jack Baber (Hanham Ath), Teejay Bick (C, Cheltenham CS), Mike Beacham (Chipping Sodbury), Charlie Stevens (AEK Boco), Sam Jenkins (Chipping Sodbury), Simon Clarke (Kingswood), Danny Coombes (Chipping Sodbury), Dhani Golding (Bristol Telephones), Gary Simmons (Kingswood), Aaron Day (Rockleaze Rangers), Tim Griffiths (Cheltenham CS), Phil Vice (Patchway Town), Andrew Roberts (Kings Stanley), Craig Lancastle (Thornbury Town).

Somerset County League: Josh Hayward (Bridgwater Res), Gary Clarke (Wrington Redhill), Sam Krug (Clutton), Jack Adams (Bishops Lydeard), Ciaran Greening (Shirehampton), Callum Laird (Bridgwater Res), Charlie Wilson (Bishops Lydeard), James Springett (Nailsea Utd), Dan Spicer (Shirehampton), Jack Taylor (Berrow), Zac Ryder (Watchet Town), Adam Bell (Nailsea Utd), Matt Connick (Bridgwater Res), Connor O’Neil (Bridgwater Res), Harry Horton (Bridgwater Res), Josh Gibbs (Yatton), Matt Long (Nailsea Utd).

Referee: Mike Rogers