Young Robins Beaten!
Cheltenham Town's U18 Development Team were defeated by rivals Gloucester City in their first ever meeting in the Midland Floodlit Youth League at Glevum Park, Tuffley.
The young Robins suffered a 2-0 loss in a scrappy encounter after goals from Ollie Barnes and Brad Loveridge either side of half time.Â
After just four minutes, Cheltenham fell behind. Gloucester City’s Barnes cut inside on the left wing and unleashed a superb curling shot from the edge of the penalty area which found the top right hand corner, leaving goalkeeper Josh Rogers with no chance.
Despite going behind to an early goal, Cheltenham responded well and nearly levelled a minute later when Elliot Smith saw his shot fly inches wide.
Jim Hart's side were growing into the game and on the 15 minute mark, Smith played in Harry Walker but the Robins' captain could only shoot straight at City keeper Nathan Charnock.
As the match progressed, it was turning into a feisty encounter with both sides fighting for the ball with some crunching challenges. Players on both sides were giving everything in this local derby.
But as half time approached, neither side had managed a shot on target since the deadlock had been broken.
However the beginning of the second half was far more lively. Harrison Jones forced Charnock to parry his shot and then Harry Walker's free kick was tipped over by the Gloucester stopper as Cheltenham pushed for an equaliser.
But as the game had seemingly settled, Gloucester City struck a crucial blow when full back Loveridge rifled home from a tight angle in the 77th minute, doubling their advantage.
With just ten minutes to go all the pressure was being applied by the hosts as Harrison Iddles showed electric pace to beat two Cheltenham defenders but fired over from close range.
At the full time whistle, it was Gloucester City's U18 youth development side who took the local bragging rights in this league encounter and this is what manager Jim Hart and captain Harry Walker had to say: