Match Report
Gloucester City 1-1 Bishop’s Stortford Match Report 12/8/23
Hamish Arnold
Bishop’s Stortford earned a hard fought point away to Gloucester City in the second match of the Vanarama National League North season. Tosin Olufemi equalised late on for the Blues after Brandon Smalley had opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half. The Isthmian League Premier Division champions are one of eight sides with four points from two games, with only Blyth Spartans preserving a perfect record.
Ethan Freemantle tested Jack Giddens early on with a side-footed first time effort from a right wing cross, but Giddens at full stretch parried the ball and caught the rebound. Ayo Shogbeni headed clear a left wing cross but the hosts recycled it and Jamie Reckford shot over the bar. Tosin Olufemi’s flying block denied Harry Pinchard’s powerful strike from the left side of the box. But from the following throw-in, a cross came in from the left and Smalley rose highest at the back post and headed back across goal into the bottom left corner, off the base of the post. Giddens came and caught a high cross from the left, and from the next attack he was down low pushing the ball away from a low fizzed cross, with Freemantle waiting for a tap-in on the right side of the box. Darren Foxley’s free kick was only half cleared and Ryan Henshaw kept the ball on the left wing, and his curling right footed shot was only narrowly wide. Jack Thomas headed clear from a wide free kick, before Joe Parker volleyed over the bar in first half injury time.
HT 1-0
Early in the second half, Foxley forced Liam Armstrong into a full stretch dive to save the powerful shot from left of centre, and Ollie Peters received the ball on the bounce from new signing Chris Regis but his half-volley from 20 yards went over the bar. City fans behind the goal were shouting for a penalty when Ayo Shogbeni fell over, shepherding the ball back to Giddens in the box, but nothing was given. Joe Hanks won a near post header from a left wing free kick by Pinchard, but he headed wide, and Henshaw headed over the bar from a free kick but was flagged for offside. Henshaw won the next header from a Foxley corner, but put it wide. Tyrone Duffus tackled Ryan Charles in the box, and when ‘Spider’ got back up, the defender had another go and tugged at the shorts of the Stortford man for a certain penalty. Olufemi slotted home to the keeper’s right, sending Armstrong the wrong way. Ola Ogunwamide provided pace and attacking intent on the right wing when he came on in the second half, going close with a shot as he beat the offside trap but narrowly missed the target from a tight angle. Foxley sent in a free kick in injury time which Armstrong came for but didn’t catch, and conceded a corner, but City managed to defend it and the match ended all square.
FT 1-1
TEAMS
Gloucester City XI
1 Liam Armstrong
2 Sonny Hart
3 Jamie Reckford (Yellow card 79’)
4 Tyrone Duffus
7 Joe Parker
9 Danny Wright (Yellow card 49’) (Williams 61’)
11 Harry Pinchard
13 Joe Hanks (c)
14 Ben Rich-Everton
15 Ethan Freemantle (Dawkins 74’)
19 Brandon Smalley (Goal 21′) (Emmett 87’)
Subs
6 Elliott Durrell
10 Harry Williams
16 Ioan Richards
17 Harry Emmett
18 Kartell Dawkins
Bishop’s Stortford XI
1 Jack Giddens
3 Jack Morrell
4 Jack Thomas (Ogunwamide 63’)
5 Ayo Shogbeni
6 Ryan Henshaw (c) (Yellow card 60’)
10 Darren Foxley
11 Tosin Olufemi (Goal p 84’)
15 Ryan Charles (Yellow card)
16 Zain Walker (Yellow card 18′) (Sykes 52’)
17 Chris Regis (Howard 86’)
18 Ollie Peters
Subs
2 Mark Haines
7 Ola Ogunwamide
9 Andre Godfrinne
12 George Sykes
14 Rob Howard
Attendance 875
