Cheltenham Town 2-1 Everton
Cheltenham Town came from a goal down to beat Everton 2-1 in the Checkatrade Trophy at The LCI Rail Stadium.
The Toffees took the lead early on thanks to an own goal from Calum Kitscha, and it stayed 1-0 until half time.
After the break Cheltenham looked to get back in the game with attacking substitutions but it wasn't until the 82nd minute that Billy Waters found an equaliser.
The comeback was complete soon after when Danny Wright cooly converted from the spot to give The Robins all three points.
It took just five minutes for Everton to take the lead as David Henen ran down the right hand side and put in a dangerous cross that was fumbled into his own net by Kitscha.
Six minutes later Cheltenham carved out their first chance as Jordan Cranston’s cross found it’s way to the back post, and Asa Hall unleashed a powerful shot from a tight angle that was well saved by Mateusz Hewelt.
With 27 minutes on the clock Everton almost extended their lead when Oumar Niasse slid the ball under Kitscha, but luckily Asa Hall was on the line to get the ball clear.
Ten minutes before the break James Dayton was pulled down on the edge of the box to earn a free kick which he dusted himself down to take, but even though he managed to get his shot over the wall it was comfortably saved by Hewelt.
Waters had another good chance a few minutes later as Daniel O’Shaughnessy played a lovely ball into the striker, but after turning well his low shot crept just wide of the right hand post.Â
The best, and final, chance of the half came on 45 minutes as Amari Morgan-Smith raced clean through with just the goalkeeper to beat, however he couldn’t guide the ball past the extended legs of Hewelt and The Robins went in a goal down at the break.
After the interval Cheltenham looked to get back into the game as Harry Pell and Wright both came on, yet it was The Toffees who had the first real chance as Antonee Robinson was set clear on the right but couldn’t beat Kitscha who was forced into making a clever save.
Minutes later, though, The Robins almost equalised as Jack Munns put in a dangerous cross that Wright connected very well to, but he couldn’t guide his header anywhere other than over and into the Autovillage stand.
Cheltenham had the ball in the net with just over 10 minutes to go, but unfortunately the referee had blown his whistle in the build up due to a high foot from Wright.
From that moment on the game was completely turned on it's head as Waters equalised on 82 minutes through a header after first Wright's initial effort was saved.
No more than a minute later the home side then had the chance to take the lead as Dayton was hacked down inside the box, and Wright stepped up to chip the ball down the middle to complete a fantastic comeback for The Robins.
Cheltenham Town: C Kitscha, D Parslow (C), R Dickie, J Barthram, J Cranston (D O’Shaughnessy, 37), A Hall (H Pell, 56), J Munns, J Dayton, J Smith, B Waters, A Morgan-Smith (D Wright, 70).
Unused Subs: L Clayton, A Downes, K Storer, D Whitehead.
Everton: M Hewelt, M Foulds, J Bainbridge, J Yarney, A Robinson, J Williams (C), L Walsh, B Beningime, C Dyson, D Henen (B Sambou, 75), O Niasse (C McAleny, 57).
Unused Subs: C Renshaw, M Donohue, N Holland, D Brewster, L Rodriguez.