O'Regan winner sends Gloucester City into consecutive play-off final and Bank Holiday showdown at Farnham

Gloucester City came from behind twice on Tuesday night at Meadow Park to eventually defeat Poole Town in extra-time to secure their spot in a playoff final, writes Alfie Richmond.

With a long 42-match league campaign coming to an end, it all boiled down to this — Gloucester welcomed Poole in the semi-finals of the Southern League playoffs in the hopes of securing back-to-back finals.

Having secured third place, City earned home advantage against a Poole side they had already beaten twice in the league this season. The Dolphins, meanwhile, were making their first playoff appearance in three years, having suffered penalty heartbreak against Truro City last time out.

The hosts arrived in strong form, closing their campaign with an impressive win over champions Walton & Hersham — the same opponents they overcame at this stage last year.

Ryan Campbell had the first opportunity of the game for the visitors, meeting Harvey Slade’s header on the volley — but it wasn’t enough to trouble Jared Thompson on three minutes.

Slade found himself in-behind the Gloucester defence a few minutes later but failed to find the oncoming Shaquille Gwengwe with his cross as Poole looked to cause problems on the break.

Another decent chance passed Poole by when Charlie Davis’ corner to the near-post found Slade, who spun his effort wide. City’s lion-share of possession counted for few chances 22 minutes in.

The warning signs were there — and the away side went on to open the scoring. Slade found himself free at the back-post, and his re-directed header took an unfortunate deflection off Kieran Thomas to give Poole the lead after 25 minutes.

But it didn’t take long for the hosts to respond, and the game was level just 12 minutes later. A magnificent solo effort from Rylie Siddall saw the youngster take matters into his own hands — travelling a good 20 yards with the ball before wonderfully firing into the far corner.

Joe Hanks and Roy Simpson combined nicely a few moments later, before the latter struck an effort into the hands of Poole keeper Adam Parkes in a bid for a quick turn-around.

Simpson volleyed an effort into the side-netting towards the end of the half, but honours were even going into the break. The home side had improved since equalising, and had nullified The Dolphins’ counterattacking threat. Siddall’s moment of brilliance had put City right back in the game, and with 45 minutes remaining — it was all to play for.

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Both sides had chances immediately after the restart, with Hanks initially striking one over the bar before Josh McCormick flashed a dangerous-looking cross past the City back-line.

Ten minutes in, the visitors regained their lead. A sustained spell of Poole pressure saw Davis force a strong stop out of Thompson — but Gwengwe was on hand to tap-home the rebound from close range to net his 42nd goal of the campaign, and City had to come from behind again.

Simpson lifted an attempt over Parkes’ bar, while Gwengwe missed a huge chance to double Poole’s lead up the other end just minutes after the goal.

The visitors looked certain to net a third on 61 minutes but for a remarkable save from Thompson, who denied a Poole player from close-range following a corner.

With 15 minutes to play, Poole led Gloucester 2-1.

More Thompson heroics kept City’s promotion hopes alive with nine minutes remaining after keeping out Gwengwe one-on-one, yet they still trailed.

But on 86 minutes, Gloucester levelled once more, keeping the tie in the balance. Ed Williams’ corner met the head of Hanks, who nodded home at the near-post to send the game into extra-time.

Nothing could separate the two sides after 90 minutes, and the game headed to extra-time.

Thompson was at it once again three minutes into extra-time, with a finger-tip save denying Antonio Diaz to keep it at 2-2. Slade then sent an effort over the bar.

Huge Poole penalty shouts were waved away when Selim Saied went down under a challenge five minutes later, much to the relief of the City defence.

Billy Lowes tried his luck on 100 minutes as Poole looked to keep the pressure on, but Thompson was on hand once more to collect the long-range attempt.

Gloucester had a decent chance just before the break in extra time, with James Waite firing wide, leaving the score at 2–2 with 15 minutes remaining.

Shooting towards the City End in the second half of extra time proved a major advantage for the hosts, and they made it count by taking the lead for the first time in the match on 111 minutes. A superb delivery from Waite found Hanks, whose flicked header was kept out by Parkes, but Michael O’Regan reacted quickest to smash home and put the Tigers in front.

Tired legs and tired minds were evident to see in the final closings of this intriguing encounter, but despite Poole’s best efforts to send the game to penalties, a resilient Gloucester side saw the tie out to send them into the Southern Prem playoff final.

Gloucester will play Farnham Town at Farnham as a result of the other concluding semi-final, which saw them beat Berkhamsted 2-1. The final will be played on Bank Holiday Monday at 3pm to determine who joins Walton & Hersham in the National League.

Subs: Stretton, Waite (80’), Spence (87’), Cross (87’), Phillips (80’)

Subs: K.Campbell (46’), Ayo (87’), Saied (91’), Spalding (95’), Diaz (80’).

C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Jared Thompson (Gloucester City)