Gloucestershire County League

Gala Wilton 0 Thornbury Town 5

THORNBURY Town continue to set the pace at the top of the Gloucestershire County League table following a resounding 5-0 win at Gala Wilton.

Thorns started brightly and Brandon Benjamin’s header from Toby Bennett’s corner in the first minute was only fractionally too high.

However they deservedly edged in front on 13 minutes when leading goalscorer Craig Lancastle got on to the end of a Benjamin cross and, with the home defence appealing for offside, drove the ball past Gala keeper Brabham.

Town continued to press the home defence and 5 minutes later Marcus Wormwell weaved his way past several defenders before hitting the post with a well struck shot.

Gala struggled to cope with Town’s attack and rarely got out of their own half and it was no surprise when Thornbury doubled their lead on 37 minutes.

Tom Webb and Wormwell linked up well down the left before the striker pulled the ball back for Brandon Benjamin to side foot the ball into the net.

Minutes later, Lancastle almost made it three when he broke into the box but a desperate challenge by Clay steered the ball out for a corner. Brabham then brought of a great save from Lancastle’s goalbound shot.

With the slope and wind in their favour in the second half, it was more of the same from Thornbury and they went 3-0 up two minutes after the restart when Craig Lancastle’s pass found Toby Bennett on the edge of the penalty area.

The midfielder’s shot took a deflection off a defender and looped over the keeper into the net.

Bennett almost grabbed a second on 65 minutes but Brabham pulled off a good save, but it was only a minute later before Town got their fourth.

Scott McLeod went on a surging run down the right before crossing into the penalty area giving Lancastle the simplest of chances to tap the ball in.

The home side had their first shot on target a couple of minutes later but Jeremiah’s effort was comfortably saved by Tom Sheppard.

With teb minutes left, Bennett weaved his way past Brabham, but his shot was cleared off the line by Samuels, but Town only had to wait a couple of minutes more to get their fifth goal of the day.

Dan Rees’ storming run saw him outpace the home defence and Lancastle latched onto his cross into the box before jinking past his marker and then drive the ball home.

He almost scored again just before the end but Brabham brought off a great save and then saved again from Toby Bennett’s shot.

Another excellent all-round team performance from Thorns and they will be looking to maintain their run this Saturday when they entertain Southmead Athletic at the Mundys, kick off 2:00pm.

Thorns good form this season has been recognised with skipper Pete Fowler, Tom Webb and Craig Lancastle all being selected for the County League’s representative side who entertain the Somerset Senior League on December 13 at Oaklands Park.