The Robins started their first home game of the 2018/19 season with an unchanged line up, choosing to start with the same 11 that lined up against Melksham on Saturday.
The game started at a rapid pace with play becoming very stretched in the early stages, both sides were struggling to put together a prolonged spell of passing, both gaining possession only to give the ball away with a poor pass.
It was the home side that seemed to settle the better of the two and got what they deserved for their efforts on the half hour, Ashley Williams opened the scoring when he powered home a loose ball from close range, only to concede five minutes following some defensive errors. Mangotsfield’s Kye Simpson broke down the left and his ball into the box found Mike Bryant who’s shot found its way into the net.
Joe Turley – Back to his best ?
The Robins were not in any mood to sit back and lick their wounds and the 240 spectators saw Joe Turley restore the lead in the 44th minute, when he both started and finished a move involved Cory Simpson, Steve Davies and some slick passing that had not always been present in the first half.
It didn’t take the home side long to show their intent hitting the bar twice in the opening six minutes of the second half, first Marley Thomas drove the ball against the near post and it was Archie Haskayne’s turn, his header from the rebound came down off the underside of the bar before Mangotsfield were able to scramble it to safety.
The Robins had now taken control of the game with numerous passages of good football and were the better side for most of the second half, managing to double their lead with just four minutes remaining on the clock, this time it was the turn of Lewis Ellington to put the ball into the back of the visitors net when he got on the end of a Tyrone Tucker-Dixon’s low cross.
Most of ‘The Robins’ fans thought that was job done and it should have been, but the visitors seemed to have other ideas, following a sustained spell of pressure the home defence gifted Mangotsfield a second goal in stoppage time, The Mango’s Louis Britton broke through and pushed the ball just inside the near post.
Evesham Utd: Rivers, Hancock, Humphreys, Turley, Summers, Dovey, Thomas (Tucker-Dixon, 70), Williams, Davies, Haskayne (Tumelty, 81), Simpson (Ellington, 70). Unused subs: Brain, Tunnicliff.
Attendance: 240
Pictures by Stuart Purfield Here
