Gloucestershire FA Junior County Cup Round 1

Minchinhampton 4

Longlevens Thirds 2

A WELCOME break from a difficult period of league football came in the shape of a tough home tie against a strong Longlevens Thirds side and Minchinhampton rose to the challenge winning an end-to-end battle by four goals to two.

Longlevens broke the deadlock midway through the first half when Craig Martin climbed highest to head home from a free- kick.

Undeterred Minchinhampton drew parity when Tom Beard rose majestically to power home a header from an Angus Gegg corner kick.

The second period saw Minchinhampton take the lead when Tom Beard's free-kick flew through a crowd of players before nestling into the corner of the net.

Soon after the effervescent Jack Hornsby came alive and cut in from the right flank to fire a rocket across the keeper to extend the home side's lead.

Made to pay for switching off at a corner, Minchinhampton conceded when Nick Bradley fired home from close range to bring the cup tie back to life.

Again a positive response was made with Jack Hornsby again the tormentor in chief smashing home a similar goal to his first.

A late charge from Longlevens was met with some stoic defence with the whole home side contributing.

Late on a counter attack drew a foul in the box and Jack Hornsby uncharacteristically stepped aside to let Tom Beard take the spot kick,but he saw his powerful effort fly to safety off the crossbar.

A much better team performance than of late with Tom Beard edging out Angus Gegg for man-of-the-match.