MATCH REPORTS 2007/08 SEASON

MATCH REPORTS ON THIS PAGE FROM SATURDAY 18TH AUGUST - SATURDAY 20TH OCTOBER

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Saturday 18th August - British Gas Business Football League Premier Division - Yate Town 1 Mangotsfield United 0

This eagerly awaited season opener offered little in the way of entertainment as both sides failed to produce much in the way of attractive football. A much changed Mangotsfield United side which numbered six new faces in the starting line up lacked cohesion during a disjointed ninety minutes in which the ball was given away on countless occasions.

After a poor and often scrappy opening the first chance came the way of the hosts on twelve minutes when Aaron Blakemore received the ball to feet twenty yards from goal where he wasted little time in drilling in a shot which just cleared the bar with loan signing, goalkeeper Josh Clapham at full stretch.

Five minutes later the best chance of the half fell to Alan Griffin whose close range header from a Sam Bailey free kick went narrowly wide. Minutes later Griffin was presented with another opportunity to open the scoring after a corner from the right was played back to Jon French whose cross was met by Griffin only for the targetman's header to be directed at goalkeeper Martin Horsall.

After an evenly contested half hour Yate dominated the final fifteen minutes of the first half but despite enjoying good possession they failed to create anything of note as the sides went in goalless at half time.

With seven minutes of the second half played Yate Town striker Aaron Blakemore went close to the opener after Adam Sims through ball sent the pacey Blakemore clear in the left side of the penalty area where with only Josh Clapham to beat he shot into the side netting from ten yards. This proved to be the only chance during the opening twenty minutes of the second half in which both teams struggled to find any rhythm.

As the match entered the final twenty minutes the home side enjoyed their best spell of the match. On seventy minutes substitute Gavin Eyres looping cross caused problems for Josh Clapham as his punched clearance dropped to Matt Rawlins who despite finding himself in plenty of space failed to find the target from twelve yards.

Rawlins went close again with seven minutes left when flicking on Jason Wood's free kick only for his glancing header to be directed straight at Clapham.

With the match seemingly heading towards a draw the decisive goal came with just three minutes to play after another speculative ball into the Mangotsfield penalty once again posed a problem as Clapham's poor punched clearance fell to central defender Scott Brice who showed enough composure to bring the ball under control before looking up to guide the ball beyond Clapham into the bottom right corner .

Tuesday 21st August - British Gas Business Football League Premier Division - Mangotsfield United 2 Bashley 0

A much improved performance saw Mangotsfield United pick up their first win of the new campaign with a hard earned victory over newly promoted Bashley. With goalkeeper John Rendell ruled out Melksham Town's Steve Perrin deputised whilst Gary Thorne replaced the injured Alex Ball in central defence, otherwise the Mangotsfield United line up was unchanged.

In an evenly contested opening the first chance came the way of the hosts on eleven minutes when Luke Ballinger received the ball on the right where after making ground into the right side of the penalty his cross shot was cleared behind for a corner.

The visitors had to wait until the sixteenth minute for their first notable opening which came after a Mangotsfield free kick from within the Bashley half was cleared to Chris Knowles who after breaking with pace from central midfield and making forty yards he failed to trouble Perrin as his shot went harmlessly wide.

With the match evenly poised Mangotsfield opened the scoring on the half hour mark when Jon French's free kick from the left was met by Gary Thorne whose glancing header from six yards flashed past David Elms.

Despite going behind the visitors responded positively putting Mangotsfield under pressure late on in the half. On thirty eight minutes after a counter attack down the Mangotsfield left the ball was worked inside to the unmarked Richard Gillespie who mishit a shot straight at Steve Perrin.

Minutes later a diagonal crossfield ball from right to left picked out Justin Keeler whose pace took him clear of the Mangotsfield rearguard allowing him to cut inside to drill an inviting ball across the face of the six yard box only for the vital touch to be missing.

On the stroke of half time the visitors wasted what was to be their best opening of the match when Dave Wakefield retrieved a loose ball wide on the right to cross to the near post where Richard Gillespie flicked the ball on for Ryan Moss who bundled the ball wide from five yards out.

Mangotsfield could have made the ideal start to the second half when just a minute after the restart Jon French was found in a central position where he skipped past two challenges but failed to find the target from the edge of the penalty area as he dragged his effort wide of goal.

The opening fifteen minutes of the second period saw the hosts enjoy their best spell of the match as two further chances were created. On fifty two minutes Luke Ballinger almost earned reward for chasing down and blocking an attempted clearance when after latching onto the loose ball wide on the right he squared the ball inside for Jon French whose cross was headed clear as far as Darren Hawkins twenty yards out where his strike was turned over by David Elm in the Bashley goal.

The front pairing of Luke Ballinger and Alan Griffin who had worked tirelessly throughout almost combined to add a second on fifty six minutes when Griffin's tenacity deep in the Bashley half culminated in the former Chippenham Town frontman crossing to the near post for strike partner Ballinger who flicked a header across the six yard box.

Bashley had the ball in the back of the net on sixty seven minutes after Richard Gillespie was found wide on the left where after cutting inside his strike from the left edge of the area was parried into the path of Ryan Moss who side footed home from ten yards only to be adjudged offside.

As the match entered the final fifteen minutes the visitors twice went close to drawing level. On seventy five minutes Ryan Moss's deep cross from the right was met at the back post by Darren Keeler who was denied by Perrin's fine finger tip save, whilst a minute later a move which saw the ball worked across the pitch from right to left to Justin Keeler whose cross was met by the head of the unmarked Richard Gillespie forcing Steve Perrin into a low save to his left.

In the eighty ninth minute after having survived a fifteen minute spell of pressure the win was confirmed as a counter attack saw Alan Griffin force his way into the Bashley penalty area to earn a penalty after being dragged down by Pete Castle. Luke Ballinger opened his account after stepping up to drill the ball under David Elm despite the towering keeper getting a hand to the ball .

Saturday 25th August - British Gas Business Football League Premier Division - Corby Town 1 Mangotsfield United 2

Mangotsfield United made the long trek to Northamptonshire and returned with three points against one of the pre season favourites for promotion. New signing Tony Malessa who was making a return to the club took over the goalkeepers jersey in an otherwise unchanged starting line up.

Luke Ballinger gave Mangotsfield the best possible start with a fifth minute opener after reacting quickly to latch onto a mis-cued strike to comfortably beat Danny Crane. The lead was doubled just three minutes later when Alan Griffin opened his account with a stunning overhead kick from Jon French's right sided corner.

The hosts were offered a lifeline on twenty eight minutes when Sam Bailey brought down Corby's Liam Nicell, however Adam Wykes spot kick was parried by Tony Malessa only for Ricky Miller to follow up to reduce the deficit.

In the opening minutes of the second half Alan Griffin could have extended his side's lead only for the ball to run away at the vital moment allowing Corby Town goalkeeper Daniel Crane to claim the ball.

Despite working hard in search for an equaliser Corby rarely threatened with their best chance of the half falling to Ricky Miller who after running clear blazed well wide. As the match entered the final minutes Steve Towers went close with a looping header which hit the crossbar.

Monday 27th August - British Gas Business Football League Premier Division - Mangotsfield United 1 Tiverton Town 1

Honours were even in this competitive and at times niggly bank holiday fixture as two second half goals in the space of four minutes saw these long standing rivals share the spoils.

Mangotsfield United manager Frank Gregan made one change to the starting line up as Alex Ball came in for Darren Hawkins. The returning Ellis Wilmot was named amongst the substitutes after serving a three match ban.

In a match of few chances Mangotsfield started brightly creating the first opening on five minutes when a counter attack saw the ball worked to Alex Ball in the inside right channel where his strike from twenty five yards flashed wide.

Minutes later the Tiverton Town rearguard failed to clear Neil Arndale's throw in from the right and with the ball breaking to Jon French ten yards from goal he was denied by Ray Johnston who turned his shot behind for a corner.

After being forced onto the back foot during the opening exchanges the visitors worked their way into the match but despite this Tony Malessa remained largely untroubled in the Mangotsfield goal. The remainder of the half was evenly contested if a little scrappy with clearcut chances very few and far between.

The best move of the half came the way of the hosts on twenty five minutes when Neil Arndale received the ball in space wide on the right where his low ball into the six yard box was met first time by Luke Ballinger who guided his shot just wide of the near post.

With half time approaching Tiverton created their first chance of the half after the ball was worked crossfield from right to left to Chris Vinnicombe whose low cross found Chris Young eight yards out where he dragged his shot wide of goal.

The opening twenty minutes of the second half saw very little in the way of goalmouth action as defences assumed control in a match which was only ever going to be won by the odd goal.

With the match increasingly looking like ending in stalemate Mangotsfield took the lead on seventy three minutes courtesy of Ellis Wilmot's stunning free kick awarded after substitute Matt Beadle was bundled over twenty yards from goal. Wilmot, also a second half substitute stepped up to drill the ball past the defensive wall and into the top left corner with Johnston well beaten.

Disappointingly the lead was to last just four minutes as Tiverton equalised from the penalty spot through Carl Cliff-Brown after Matt Beadle handled inside the six yard box. After pulling level the visitors enjoyed a late forcing three corners in added time.

Saturday 1st September - British Gas Business Football League Premier Division - Cirencester Town 0 Mangotsfield United 0

Despite a poor performance Mangotsfield United secured a point after a bore draw at The Corinium Stadium. Similarly to Monday's draw against Tiverton Town chances were once again scarce as both teams offered very little in terms of a goal threat.

Mangotsfield United manager Frank Gregan gave new signing Darren Wheeler his debut with Brian Dutton dropping to the bench in what was an otherwise unchanged starting line up. 

During a dull opening forty five minutes only two chances were created. The first chance came the way of the hosts on nineteen minutes after a free kick from the left caused problems in the Mangotsfield penalty area which allowed Cirencester Town's Nathan Haisley to bring a fine save out of Tony Malessa with a close range header, Malessa then having to react quickly to deny Nick Stanley with another fine save as he turned the ball behind for a corner.

This appeared to give home side some belief as they enjoyed the better of the remaining twenty five minutes of the half but despite enjoying greater possession they failed to threaten.

On the stroke of half time Mangotsfield created their first opening through Alan Griffin who after battling for a loose ball on the right side of the Cirencester penalty area brought a save out of Matty Bulman with a strike from an acute angle.

The opening ten minutes of the second half failed to improve as a spectacle as both teams continued to give the ball away with alarming regularity.

However rare quality on sixty minutes almost brought about an opening goal when Mangotsfield worked the ball to the unmarked Alex Ball who after receiving the ball in space on the right  looked up to deliver a crossfield ball to the back post for Luke Ballinger who despite being pulled back managed to side foot the ball goalwards only to be denied as Matty Bulman dived low to his left to make the save.

With Mangotsfield finishing the stronger two chances came in the final twelve minutes, the first falling to Alan Griffin who after latching onto a long ball in the inside right channel he opted for an early strike only to blaze wide from twenty five yards, whilst on eighty eight minutes second half substitute Dave Burborough broke from midfield where after exchanging passes with Alan Griffin on the left edge of the Cirencester penalty area he was denied his first goal for the club as Matty Bulman made a fine save diving to his left to divert the ball away from goal.

There was late drama as Cirencester almost snatched a last gasp winner after a quick free kick twenty five yards out saw Paul Hunt beat the offside trap only for Tony Malessa to move off his line to narrow the angle and divert Hunt's effort wide of goal.