City made old boy
Simon Cooper choke on his parting prediction that
Gloucester would finish this season in a mediocre
mid-table position. Coops' game started poorly with a
rash heavy tackle on Will Steadman in the opening
exchanges - and fell away to insignificance.
The game began with
early Gloucester pressure earning a corner. Wyatt's cross
was fumbled by former Ch@~tenham keeper Maloy under a challenge by Mainwaring. The Dorchester defence then made
the fatal mistake of leaving Burns with time to both
collect the ball and then turn before slamming in the
opener from 6 yards.
City kept up
remorseless pressure on the beleaguered Magpies, but
weren't able to turn their superiority into goals as the
final pass all too often went astray. However with
Dorchester offering little up front it was only a matter
of time before the City attack clicked. Good midfield
work between Steadman and Mings sent Holloway galloping
free down the right wing. His deep cross was met by
Hemmings at full pace with a sensational diving header.
With a two goal lead City weren't even too alarmed by the
early departure of Gary Kemp with a slight hamstring
strain, especially when a replacement of Gary Thorne's
quality is on the bench.
City began the
second half in the same vein with Wyatt joining Hemmings
by marking his home debut with a goal. A long Gary Thorne
throw was missed by Mainwaring but was met at the far
post by Wyatt with a sweet half volley into the far
corner. Malloy seemed intent on giving City extra chances
they scarcely needed with a pitiful performance in the
Dorset team's goal.
However Dorchester
earnt some respect with a classic breakaway goal from
McPherson that exposed a lack of pace in the City
defence. The goal seemed to briefly shake the Gloucester
side's self-belief and for a few minutes the three points
seemed to be in doubt. However City had the composure to
play it simple until the away sides refuelled enthusiasm
burnt out.
The seal on a
convincing Gloucester victory was placed when Adie Mings
bustled onto a loose ball after Mainwaring was unable to
control a long ball from the back. Mings burst through a
punctured Dorchester defence and lofted the ball over a
reluctantly advancing keeper to make it four for the
night.
With City crushing
one of the pre-season favourites this convincingly
without ever looking as though they had hit top form the
omens are looking good this season. If they can score 4
while rarely stringing passes together God help the DML
defences when it all comes together...
Mokler