University of Gloucestershire 1’s put on a dominant display in front of a packed home crowd as they defeated Plymouth Marjon 1s 4-0 at Plock Court.
A first half brace from George Harris and second half goals from Jaja Wayne-Clarke and Dan Jones sealed a convincing victory for the home side.
Gloucestershire started the game looking the stronger of the two sides, creating plenty of early chances, and they got their just reward 20 minutes in, when right-wing-back Harris met a wonderful James Younger pass, and whilst his first effort hit the post, Harris was the quickest to react to open the scoring.
Only eight minutes later, Harris doubled his tally when a defensive error allowed him to get in behind the back line, and after his first strike was well saved, Harris was once again the quickest to the rebound.
After the break, Wayne-Clarke made it three goals to the good, with a neat finish from outside the box, before Jones bagged Gloucestershire’s fourth, tapping in a Harris cross.
This came moments after Jones had a goal disallowed for offside, and Gloucestershire were once again disappointed by the offside flag, with George Denton’s last-minute effort also ruled out.
The first half chances came thick and fast for Gloucestershire after their two-goal advantage, including a corner routine that came seemingly straight from the training ground, with Joe Seery drilling the ball to the edge of the box, and after a clever dummy from Jack Plant, James White’s strike was superbly stopped by the Marjon goalkeeper.
Seery had a chance of his own in the closing stages of the first half, with his left footed effort from long range crashing off the crossbar.
Once Wayne-Clarke secured Gloucestershire’s third, Seery was once again involved in the action, finding himself in the middle of a brawl that broke out between the two sides when frustration finally got the better of the away side.
Tensions continued to rise and the game began to get ugly, and eventually, Seery had to come off the pitch with an injury picked up from the Marjon player’s constant fouls.
The term ‘12th man’ can get used too casually in regard to fans, however, the home support at Plock Court was a huge addition to the already motivated home side.
The Marjon linesman made sure that the score line didn’t get out of hand, with Jones and Denton having two goals ruled out for offside, however, Jones did get his reward for his efforts to wrap up a convincing win for Gloucestershire.
