Longlevens unlucky as they fall to late defeat against Highworth Town
Longlevens defended resiliently but were unlucky to concede late on, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Highworth Town on Wednesday night.
Leon Morrison touched home from close range to separate the two sides on a cold evening in Gloucester, with both defences on top throughout the contest.
The hosts played with a back three and allowed Dan Roddis and Sam Kelly to venture forward in attack and for the most part, it worked very well for Michael Palmer & Craig Martin’s side.
The opening 10 minutes were very even, with Highworth seeing a lot of possession, whilst Shiyak Sutherland had one of the first meaningful efforts of the game – but he dragged wide.
Sol Pryce cut in from the left for the visitors, but his effort was saved by Kane Winman, who had to deal with a number of corners in the first half.
Dan Comer went close for an opener, but the Highworth man headed against the foot of the post from yet another corner.
The biggest chance of the half fell for Piers Walton just after the half hour mark, when he latched onto a poor header back to Winman and the forward had almost too much time and screwed his effort horribly wide.
Longlevens were a threat on the counter though, and a succession of Sam Kelly corners nearly saw them pinch the lead before the break – with one headed off the line at the near post by a recovering defender.
Just before the half time whistle, Highworth were convinced they should have had a penalty – as Cam Williams stepped across his man in the area, but in reality the Highworth man kicked Williams’ calf.
Williams was able to soldier on until the break, but was replaced soon after the restart.
Rob Perry made a heroic block as Highworth pressed for that crucial goal, with the defender throwing himself in front of a Walton effort from just inside the area.
Longlevens introduced Fin Rankin and Morgan Ewing during the second half, in a bid to catch Highworth on the break.
But it was Highworth who looked the most likely, with Dan Roddis clearing an effort off the line, before Connor Mattimore’s driven effort looked to have just about flicked onto the foot of the post by Winman.
Sutherland stung the palms of Highworth keeper Oli Gargett with just under 15 minutes to go, before Highworth got the goal they deserved.
After a heavy touch from Perry, the visitors overloaded Levens down their right back channel and after the ball was dinked over the on-rushing Winman, Leon Morrison followed in to tap home from about a yard.
The win moves Highworth Town back up to 3rd in the Hellenic Premier table and are now four points off top spot, although Hartpury University still have a game in hand.
For Longlevens, they have a much bigger game to come on Saturday – when they host Brimscombe & Thrupp in a six-pointer at Saw Mills.
Levens find themselves in 17th position, two points ahead of the Lilywhites and five points clear of the bottom two going into a crucial match at the bottom of the table.
Longlevens: Winman, Roddis, Kelly, Parker, Perry, R WIlliams, C Williams, Brown, Marszalek, Mason, Sutherland
Subs: Byard, Long, O’Connor, Rankin, Ewing
Highworth Town: Gargett, Griffiths, Hillerby, Cheetham, Comer, Taylor, Mattimore, Morrison, Walton, Jones, Pryce
Subs: Wells, Wrona, Edenborough, Hawkins
C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Fin Brown (Longlevens)
READ MORE: Check out this Saturday’s fixtures in and around Gloucestershire right here
READ MORE: Check out this Sunday’s Women’s fixtures in and around Gloucestershire right here
