Bogey side beaten as battlers snatch points (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Bogey side beaten as battlers snatch points

Smiths Athletic 1, Bourton Rvrs 2

THE manner of Saturday's victory might not have been emphatic, but a battling performance led to Bourton's three most impressive points of the season and maintained the club's 100 per cent start.

Five new faces were introduced - including three who had not kicked a ball in anger this season - to replace those absent and still ill from the previous week.

And, against a traditional bogey side, this was always going to be a tough ask for Tony Spedding's side.

James Luney was the player to put the thorn in the side of the hosts when he snatched the winner ten minutes from time. His bustling presence caused panic at the heart of the Cheltenham side's defence all afternoon.

Smiths, still searching for their first win of the season, made the more promising start and dominated possession in the early exchanges, but they lacked the necessary penetration.

Bourton captain Stuart Hughes showed them the way at the opposite end when the player-of-the-year brought an end to Bourton's first real attack of the game by flashing a 25-yard volley low into the corner.

Playing with the wind in the first-half, Paul McPhilimey should have doubled the lead when he ghosted in on the blind side of the defence to latch on to Tom Arkell's floated free-kick.

The midfielder showed his rustiness however, and his side-footed finish skewed well wide of the far upright.

Andrew Herbert scrambled across to turn away a low deflected drive at the start of the second half, while auxiliary centre-half Matthew Winter twice headed off his own line as Bourton defended their fragile advantage into the last quarter.

In a rare counter, Payne failed to connect with a free header, before he was replaced by 16-year-old debutant Kevin Hunt.

The home side finally grabbed the equaliser with ten minutes remaining. Joel Pridmore collected possession on the edge of the Bourton area and, evading Gary Clark's tackle, moved inside and crashed a rising drive into the top corner.

The score were level for little over a minute, though, as Tom Chanin rode a tackle in the centre of midfield and rolled a perfectly weighted through ball into the path of Luney, who crowned an impressive performance by slipping the ball into the far corner.

With competition for places fierce, Bour-ton entertain Broadwell Amateurs on Saturday.

Gloucestershire Northern

Senior League

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

Bourton Rvrs 3 3 0 0 10 4 9 Berkeley Tn 3 2 1 0 6 2 7

Huntley 2 2 0 0 5 0 6

Sharpness 2 2 0 0 6 2 6

Longlevens 3 2 0 1 9 6 6

Warden Hill Utd 4 2 0 2 7 6 6

Chalford 3 1 1 1 6 6 4

Lydney Tn 1 1 0 0 3 0 3

St Marks CA 2 1 0 1 4 3 3

Shortwood Res 2 1 0 1 4 5 3

Cheltenham CS 3 1 0 2 5 8 3

Cam Bulldogs 3 1 0 2 2 7 3

Brockworth Alb 3 0 1 2 4 7 1

Smiths Ath 3 0 1 2 3 7 1

Broadwell Ams 2 0 0 2 3 6 0

Bredon 3 0 0 3 1 9 0