| A stunning first half performance by Gadeside Rangers earned them another 3 points in their bid for promotion as they swept aside Wellington Arms at King George's. The hosts had no answer to Gadeside's movement and ability to move the ball at pace as first goals from Adam Hills, Tom Mitchell and James Bryon set them on their way. The win lifts Gadeside to third place in the league and they now know that their destiny finally lies in their own hands as wins in their final games would see them crowned champions. |
| Gadeside started the game at a tremendous pace and moved the ball around with style which itself was quite impressive as the King George pitch was tiny and the glass was very long. Daniel Brooks and Dave Nelmes were in dominant form in the centre of midfield and linked up the play very well. Much of Gadeside's early play went down the left hand side with Jason Brownhill and Russ Popplewell seeing a lot of the ball and it was no suprise when they went ahead on 8 minutes when Brownhill found space on the left hand side and delivered a low cross to where Adam Hills was on hand to steer the ball into the top corner. Gadeside should have doubled the lead shortly after when Matt Evans strode forward and sent Tom Mitchell clear but Gadeside's 'experienced' striker fired straight at the home keeper. But Mitchell made up for the miss shortly after with a goal of fine individual quality. Taking down a pass from Brownhill, Mitchell turned his marker well before hitting a curling effort from 25 yards which the keeper could only push into the bottom corner. |
| Gadeside continued to rip their opponents to shreds and should have further added to their lead when Mitchell again wastefully fired at the keeper when clean through, Dave Nelmes fired over and Adam Hills was unable to get enough contact on a James Bryon knock down. But the third goal arrived on 40 minutes and was a real gem. Gadeside worked the ball from right to left and Jason Brownhill again found space and delivered an inch perfect cross for the run of James Bryon who powered a header past the keeper for his fifth goal in nine games. Without doubt one of the goals of the season so far. The hosts reshuffled just before half time in an attempt to get a grip on the game and they came close to pulling a goal back right on half time when a striker got the wrong side of the defence but Tom Oliver produced a superb save to push the ball away and Gadeside went into the break 3-0 up. |
| Gadeside struggled to find the same tempo in the second half as the hosts began to dominate in midfield but they very rarely hurt the Gadeside defence until the final moments. In between this Gadeside still had plenty of chances to increase their lead. Mitchell and Hills combined well for the former to set his lobbed effort drop just over the bar while a powerful run by Jay Evans saw him chopped down on the edge of the area. From the resulting free kick, Evans saw his effort fly just over the bar. Hills was next to come close as his effort from 10 yards clipped the outside of the post while Daniel Brooks' long range free kick eluded the keeper and crashed against the angle of post and bar. The hosts then had a series of good chances in the final few minutes as Gadeside seemed to completely switch off. Somehow though they failed to convert any of them and Gadeside were able to claim another clean sheet. |
| Two very different halves for Gadeside but the manner of their performance in the first half with give them great confidence going into the final three games; two against league leaders West Herts and one against Mill End Sports. It promises to be an exciting climax to the season. |
| Tom Oliver, Ian Freeman, Jason Brownhill, Matt Evans, Jay Evans, Daniel Brooks, James Bryon, Dave Nelmes, Adam Hills (Tariq Khan), Tom Mitchell (Steve Shaw), Russ Popplewell |