Wright’s heroics catalyst for Shortwood in derby day win over Stonehouse Town
Joe Wright made a number of crucial half saves as Shortwood United claimed a massive 2-0 win over local rivals Stonehouse Town.
Wright made two huge stops at 1-0, including a Nick Humphreys penalty, as Shortwood kept up their play-off push in the Hellenic League Division One table.
Wood had gone ahead thanks to Martin Smith’s header on the stroke of half time, and following Wright’s heroics, they added a second through substitute Keegan Bowes to seal the deal.
The win leaves Shortwood in fifth place, seven points off the top spot and one point ahead of FC Stratford, with Marcus Foxwell having a game in hand over the chasing pack.
Stonehouse find themselves in tenth, and now 12 points off the play-offs, although they have as many as three games in hand over some of the pack chasing the play-off spots.
The game started with both sides feeling their way into the contest, with limited goalmouth action in the early exchanges.
Nick Humphreys nearly caught Wright off his line on 21 minutes, but his 40 yard effort flew just wide.
A flurry of yellow cards were issued in the first half, with Rich Thwaite and Jacob Eakers booked for lunges that could have been worse if more contact was made.
Lewis Bainbridge sent an effort way wide, before curling a free kick off the top of the crossbar.
But two corners for Shortwood in the final minutes of the half brought the best chances of the half. First, a header down was blasted at Will Pedrick by Joe Tryner, before the second brought Smith’s header to break the deadlock.
Jack Gardiner was picked out by Nathan Payne after the restart, but scuffed straight at Pedrick, who then kept out Dan Gayner and Dom Kent as the visitors pressed for a second.
Ten minutes into the half and Stonehouse should been level. After Bainbridge got in down the right, he cut across the six yard box for Luke Soule – who saw his effort blocked by a flying Wright.
Just after the hour mark, former Stonehouse man Elliot King went down with a blood injury after taking a stray arm to the face.
Due to the injury, the game was paused for 10 minutes and it pretty much killed the momentum of the fixture.
Stonehouse didn’t really recover, although they were awarded a penalty with three minutes of normal time left – but Wright kept out Humphreys’ effort the follow up was smothered clear.
And in the 90th minute, substitute Keegan Bowes raced clear before slotting past Pedrick to secure the win for his side.
Stonehouse will be looking to bounce back when they welcome Tytherington Rocks to the Ben’s Takeway Stadium on Tuesday night, whilst Shortwood aren’t back in action until Saturday 28 December, when they host Newent Town at Meadowbank.
Stonehouse Town: Pedrick, Rees, Martin, Harris, Ryan Thwaite, Rich Thwaite, Bainbridge, Eakers, Humphreys, Soule, Pirelli
Subs: Kibble, Sanniola, Dare, Barrett, Hamzat
Shortwood United: J Wright, Williams, T King, E King, Tryner, Smith, Gardiner, Kent, Payne, Martin, Gayner
Subs: Whelan, Price, D Wright, Foxwell, Bowes
C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Joe Wright (Shortwood United)
READ MORE: Check out the list of results in and around Gloucestershire from Saturday right here
LISTEN: Check out Episode 2 of the 12 Games of Christmas featuring Adam & Billy Thomas here
