Weather wins as Tuesday night football in Gloucestershire is all but washed out
Well that didn’t go to plan did it? The idea was to bring you two full match reports this Wednesday morning, but after an atrociously wet day, the fixture scheduled was almost literally, washed away.
In League One, Cheltenham Town’s trip to Burton Albion was postponed with a number of Robins fans making the trip up to Staffordshire.
Closer to home, the rain began to get a bit heavier from about 5pm, meaning clubs and fans made their journeys – with plenty arriving at grounds to be informed the game had been postponed.
Evesham United’s Southern League Division One South fixture with Paulton Rovers was called off after the players had completed their warm-ups.
In the Hellenic League, Longlevens had started to arrive at Thornbury before the rain put bed to that one, as it did at Cinderford Town vs Mangotsfield United and Chipping Sodbury Town vs Moreton Rangers, FC Stratford vs Newent Town and Stonehouse Town vs Shortwood United in Division One.
Incredibly, it looked like the two games Severn Sport were covering would be the games to beat the weather, but alas we managed 65 minutes between us – with both games abandoned, with the Gloucestershire sides in annoyingly great positions!
At Slimbridge, Sam Yapp saw a 25 minutes that had the Swans swimming into a 2-0 lead over Hereford Pegasus.
The Swans started the best in tricky conditions taking the lead in bizarre fashion when Matt Gwynne thundered a clearance against Marley Thomas which rebounded into an empty net inside five minutes.
Just seven minutes later, Theo Clayson doubled his sides lead when he pounced on a loose ball to round both goalkeeper and defender before calmly rolling the ball into an empty net.
Rain had been beating down since the middle of the afternoon and heavy wind was making the conditions that little bit worse.
Conditions worsened as the game started and never seemed to improve during proceedings making the pitch conditions very tricky to play on.
Puddles started to form and Swans’ goalkeeper, Ellis Parker, even used a spiked stick during the match to try and help his penalty box out and remove any standing water.
And as news filtered through from Sam that the game had been abandoned at Thornhill Park, it felt like we were up against it at Glevum Park – as were visitors, Hereford Lads Club.
Much like a cricket side looking to bowl their opponents out on the final day before the weather comes in, Tuffley were looking to make a rapid start.
Karnell Chambers, who pre-match was presented with the Severn Sport Player of the Month award for December, was put through inside 26 seconds, but was denied by Shay Sterry who rushed out of goal.
Tuffley peppered the Hereford Lads Club box with a number of crosses and corners into the box, but the visitors remained resilient.
Levi Ellis and Arwin Walby had efforts on goal for Lads Club, but it felt like Tuffley were the side who looked most likely to make a breakthrough.
They had to wait til the 37th minute for it, but three goals in as many minutes saw Rovers race into a 3-0 lead.
First, Kieran Alder played a neat one two with Chambers before slotting past Sterry, before the hosts won possession straight from kick off and Chambers’ ball in was palmed into the path of Jake Rhodes for 2-0.
Within seconds, Tuffley were awarded a penalty after Sterry was left exposed and tripped a forward going in on goal, with Chambers stepping up to dispatch from 12 yards.
But as the rain picked up, puddles began forming on the pitch and despite the efforts of Ian Soule and the Tuffley volunteers, a brief half time inspection saw an easy decision made in the end.
However, there were two games that did manage to see a conclusion on the night.
In the National League North, Gloucester City fans will have wished the game was postponed after the Tigers went down to a 3-1 defeat at Chorley. City remain firmly in the relegation places ahead of the visit of South Shields on Saturday.
And in the Gloucestershire County League, a Harry Reynolds goal was enough to see Quedgeley Wanderers claim a 1-0 win over Sharpness to move up to 9th in the table. The win is Quedgeley’s fifth league win at home out of their last six!
They welcome 2nd place Stoke Gifford United to Waterwells this weekend, whilst Sharpness head to Hardwicke.
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
