Bristol Rovers 1-1 Cheltenham Town
SAT 25TH OCTOBER 2014In a game played at Golden Hill, as their Hallen pitch was unavailable, our U-18 side played out a 1-1 draw against their Cheltenham Town counterparts on Saturday.
Trailing to a first half goal, they equalised early in the second half through Jay Malpas and in a determined and gritty performance thoroughly deserved a share of the spoils.
Overall, Youth Team Manager Alan Walsh was pleased with the performance of his young team. “It was a good hard working performance. We began the match brightly and played some good football without really threatening the Cheltenham goal.
“If there was any disappointment about our performance at all, then it was that we weren’t really effective in the final third of the pitch for much of the game, where a number of our good moves petered out.
“Cheltenham scored after 28 minutes, probably a little bit against the run of play, after one of our attacks broke down following a foul in the Cheltenham half. They took a quick free kick and then launched a long ball downfield which caught out our back four.
“One of their lads had got down the left and he reached the ball first. His cross, to the edge of the box, was brought under control by one of their forwards who beat Kieran Preston with his shot. It was disappointing to concede then, because we had been well in the game and looked a threat.”
During the half time interval the need to be better in front of goal was emphasised and, initially, it paid off.
“We equalised three minutes into the second half when a ball into the box was headed clear, but only as far as Jay Malpas who was on the edge of the area. He brought it under control with his first touch before slotting a shot into the far corner of the net.
“For the next 35 minutes we were well on top, and put our visitors under a great deal of pressure without really threatening their goal. We did take up some good positions, but our final shot was either high, or wide, of the target and we seemed to lose our composure in the final ten minutes, when Cheltenham got back into the game and might have gone on to win it.
Team: Kieran Preston, Tyler Lyttle (Harrison Trueman), Tom Fry, Bradley Confrey, Alfie Kilgour, Jay Malpas, Lewis Ellington (Mitch Palmer, 40), George Corp, Callum Bingham, Ryan Broom, Connor Jones.
Substitute: Cameron Clarke