Plenty of positives but signs of naivety as Longlevens slip to Hereford Pegasus defeat

Longlevens had a mixed showing on Wednesday night, as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Hereford Pegasus as Saw Mills.

The hosts had gone ahead early on, but a Jordan Williamson double saw the visitors come from behind to take all three points on a frustrating night for Buster Davies and Pete Boyle and their side.

Both sides had good chances in the first 15 minutes, with Williamson going close inside the first minute – but his effort was saved by Billy Thomas at his near post.

Levens’ best chance of the opening quarter of an hour saw a corner headed down by Jack Holmes and after Ollie Long’s goal bound effort was blocked off the line, Lewis Driscoll skied the follow up.

But the hosts broke the deadlock moments later, as Shiyak Sutherland made a perfect diagonal run to get onto a through ball.

Sutherland, who kept the ball alive on the byline, had his initial cross blocked, before it fell for him to clip the rebound up and over the keeper.

Levens were once again without strikers Brad Martin and Fin Gwillim due to holidays and Ben Lodge was still struggling to overcome a hamstring injury that has restricted his minutes so far this season, so they were delighted to see Sutherland add to his two goals on the opening midweek.

But on half an hour, an uncharacteristic mistake from Jack Holmes saw the midfielder dispossessed just outside the Longlevens box, and the ball was slipped through for Williamson to rifle past Billy Thomas to restore parity.

From there Pegasus enjoyed more of the ball and began to deploy a long ball in behind the Levens defenders and after a near miss, Longlevens continued to allow it to happen.

And with just over five minutes to go until half time, another long ball beat the defence and Williamson slotted past Thomas, who was left helpless.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/mortgageadvicegloucestershire for your financial planning needs

Longlevens looked for an equaliser after the break, but Jack Beardsell sent a long range effort wide, before having a header cleared off the line.

As the second half wore on, Pegasus looked comfortable and Levens looked bereft of ideas – even with Beardsell playing centrally and the introductions of Alex Knight and Lucas Price.

With just over 10 minutes to go, Pegasus produced a neat bit of play down the left, with the ball pulled back to Harry Pitman, who hit across the shot and it flew wide.

Moments later, Price combined with Dan Roddis, with the Levens full back scuffing his effort towards goal and the recovering defender hooked away.

Matt Gwynne was called into action in the final five minutes, but kept out Alex Knight’s effort after he created space on the edge of the box.

And in injury time, Sutherland was slipped in down the right side of the box and his effort across goal rebounded off the crossbar and fell away, allowing Pegasus to see the game out and go top of the Hellenic Premier table.

Davies and Boyle’s side will have been brought back down to Earth with the last two results after their 5-1 win against Lydney last week. But despite moments of naivety during the two defeats, there still remains plenty of positives.

Longlevens are set to complete two new attacking acquisitions, Davies confirmed after the game, but the individuals remain unnamed until the forms are signed.

Levens now face four tough away league games in a row, starting with a trip to Corsham Town on Saturday, before trips to Westfields, Droitwich Spa and Cinderford Town – all before a Bank Holiday weekend double header against Tuffley Rovers, including the trip to Glevum Park in the FA Vase.

Longlevens: Thomas, Roddis, Byard, Long, R Williams, Holmes, Beardsell, C Williams, Driscoll, Belboda, Sutherland

Subs: O’Connor, Wells, Knight, Price, Fareed

Hereford Pegasus: Gwynne, Lund, Mason, Nowell, Panniers, Price, Pitman, Cooke, Cresswell, Williamson, Summers

Subs: Owen, Rhodes, Striunga, Tootell, Apperley

C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Shiyak Sutherland (Longlevens)