After having no game last week Avonmouth today welcomed Bishopston United for a third round GFA Cup match. Bishopston are currently in the bottom half of the AYL division 3 but have picked up 7 of their 8 points from their last 3 matches & so appear to have hit some good form coming into this encounter.
Avonmouth started brightly & on their first real attack on 3 minutes took the lead. Following some good play on the right Mitch Harris had a shot on goal which was well saved by the keeper however, the ball became loose & Prevan Rajh reacting the quickest, slammed the ball in to the net from close in. This should have given the green light for Avonmouth to push forward & get more goals however, within 2 minutes Bishopston got an equaliser. A corner was well delivered into the box & a strong powerful header from a United player found its way into the net. Following this there was some untidy play from both teams but Avonmouth were on top & seemed most likely to score but on 23 minutes Bishopston took a surprise lead. Another excellent corner came into the box causing confusion & ended up with a United player smashing the ball into the back of the net from close in. After this shock Avonmouth again took control but all their effort & attempts on goal came to nothing.
Half time: Avonmouth 1 Bishopston United 2
Strong words were said at the interval & this had the desired effect on the Avonmouth players. Wave after wave of attacks on the away goal came in without success & it seemed like it was going to be one of those days. Eventually however, the pressure had to have its reward & on the hour mark the equaliser came. After a good run on the right James Skelton passed the ball infield to Sam Reynolds who sent a lovely pass out to the left which led to a race to the ball between Rajh & the United keeper which Rajh won to clip it into an empty goal. During the match the Bishopston keeper made some outstanding saves & none was better than on 62 minutes when another Reynolds pass enabled Dan Steven to shoot from outside the box. The tremendous shot was heading for the top corner when from nowhere, the keeper flung himself in the air to put the ball out for a corner. From the resultant Rajh cross, a United player on the line headed the ball against his own bar – there were shouts for a goal but, play was waved on by the referee. Avonmouth searched for the winner & as normal time was running out Harris suddenly found himself running towards goal with only the keeper to beat but again the shot was saved by the goalie. The referee soon blew & the game went into extra time.
Full Time (Normal) : Avonmouth 2 Bishopston United 2
Straight from the restart Avonmouth were on the attack & on 82 minutes took the lead. Good play in midfield enabled Mitch Day to thread a perfect pass to Harris who this time made no mistake by drilling the ball past the keeper into the net. Minutes later the home team got a 2 goal cushion when an Aaron Davies ball into the box found Harris who after turning his marker again smashed the ball into the back of the net.
Half time (Extra Time): Avonmouth 4 Bishopston United 2
With a 2-goal advantage Avonmouth could now relax & started to play their normal passing football, which soon resulted in goal number 5. Great trickery in the penalty box by Montel Riches ended up with him unselfishly laying the ball back to Luke French who from close to the goal smashed the ball into the net. Further attempts on goal came without success but Avonmouth where home & dry & could now look forward to playing in the quarter-finals of the competition.
After not playing the previous week the boys looked a bit rusty today but once the coaches had their say at half time they got the response they wanted. On another day they could have got plenty of goals in the second half, which their play merited but eventually did gain their reward. Commiserations to Bishopston who gave 100% & if they continue to play like they did today should move up their division fast. Meanwhile Avonmouth can look forward to next week’s game against top of the table Yate United.
Full Time (Extra Time): Avonmouth 5 Bishopston United 2
