Stroud League Two

Trident 3-2 Wotton Rovers

WOTTON were undone by a last-gasp goal at Trident, writes Holly Hughes.

Earlier, Wotton started brightly, with former Forest Green and Slimbridge midfielder Joe Stokes taking a shot from kick-off only to see it saved by the fingertips of the Trident keeper, and just a minute later a good ball from Hemmings over the home side’s defence was met by Jackson, who had his resulting shot saved.

With fourteen minutes gone, Wotton went close again from a Stokes free-kick. His looping cross was met by Bird whose header was parried by the keeper. The rebound fell to Loft, but he saw his shot fly well over the target.

Halfway through the first-half Wotton finally found some luck when Stokes’ through ball to Jackson took a deflection off a Trident defender, sending him in one-on-one with the keeper. Jackson passed the ball around the approaching Trident stopper and rolled it into the open net.

The following ten minutes saw Wotton maintain control, with chances for Bird and Jackson to increase the score line. Yet, four minutes from half-time, Rovers saw a lapse in concentration allow Trident to equalise from a corner.

The start of the second-half was much like the first, with Wotton in the driving seat. Their clearest chance was saw some impressive play from Stokes, who wove through the Trident defence, but his ensuing shot pushed behind.

Closing in on the hour-mark Rovers had another clear chance when Stokes’ cross was met by Bird, who headed into the hands of the Trident stopper. Yet in a turn of events, the following counter attack led to a penalty for the home team when Schofield brought down the oncoming striker. The resulting penalty was confidently dispatched, putting Wotton on the back foot for the first time in the game.

Chances were few and far between for either side over the following twenty minutes, with a solid defensive performance from the likes of Buckley and Nicky Tomlin keeping the home team at bay.

However, with little more than ten minutes left, Wotton were rewarded for their efforts. A Stokes corner was met by a number of players in the Trident box before Jackson fired the ball into the back of the net.

But it wasn’t to be, just five minutes from time a long ball into the Trident forward was enough to beat both the Wotton defence and Schofield, seeing any hope of a single point disappear.

Wotton: J. Schofield, T. Newns, N. Tomlin, T. Storkey, S. Buckley, D. Tomlin, J. Stokes, B. Hemmings, J. Loft, S. Jackson, N. Bird