COBBLERS STEP ON THE GAS
STREET’S superb start to life in Division One South continues to motor on after they beat ten-man Bideford 4-1 at the Tannery.
Promoted from the Western League last year, the Cobblers have adapted to Step Four with aplomb and a fourth win of the season sent them soaring to fourth in the table.
Sean Joyce’s Robins, who finished eighth last season, plummeted out of the contest when Ryan Turner was sent off in the first half.
The hosts surged ahead on four minutes, Edward Butcher breaking and firing a shot from a central area outside the box to nestle in the bottom-left corner.
Bideford skipper Matt Bye tried to bite back but his shot lacked control and flew over, with the home side’s dominance unbridled.
Against the run of play, the visitors equalised and it was a superb solo effort from Billy Tucker on the half-hour, picking off a pass, drifting past two and slotting past Steve Oliver.
The Robins, who finished eighth in the league last year, shot themselves in the foot when Turner saw a second yellow for a late tackle in the 35th minute.
Turner’s indiscipline was punished three minutes into the second half when Street once more caught Bideford cold and regained their lead.
Midfielder Ross McErlain stepped infield to crash a strike against the bar and Phil Ormrod – in his second spell at the club – was perfectly positioned to lash home the rebound.
David O’Hare let a chance go begging on the hour mark, leaning back on his shot and sending it flying over the bar when well-placed in the box.
Street still couldn’t find a third, Lewis Waldy breaking down the left and Aiden Chainey only narrowly unable to turn his cross home at the back post.
Joyce’s side finally had the goal their play deserved, aptly through a miscued Jamie Short strike that cannoned off substitute defender Liam Gregory and in.
The fourth came on 86 minutes, Short getting a goal of his own after springing the offside trap and finishing emphatically past Oliver.
Elsewhere, Mangotsfield United waved goodbye to a coach and star player this week but showed immense character to secure a 2-1 comeback win over Fleet
Town at Calthorpe Park. After low-key opening exchanges, Danilo Cadete found a set-piece in his sweet spot and the midfielder curled a stunning free-kick off the bar and in from 30 yards to give the away side the lead.
But Fleet’s soft underbelly, that saw them beaten 5-2 and 4-1 in their previous two games, was again exposed as Kyle Tooze poached a leveller on 41 minutes.
The Mangos lost coach Dennis Perry, who departed to take over at Bristol Telephones, and striker Kye Simpson, who has been snapped up by Evesham United, in the week.
However, they showed no ill-effects from those setbacks and surged back and got the eventual winner just before the break through Mike Bryant.
From there, the Bristol outfit held their nerve and withstood everything Fleet had to throw at them en route to their third Southern League Division One South victory of the season so far.
The Mangos move up to 14th in the table, level on points with south west rivals Larkhall Athletic and narrowly behind Paulton Rovers, themselves winners at Slimbridge.
Meanwhile, Fleet are still waiting for their first win of the season and they stay rooted to 19th place in the table, with only struggling Barnstaple Town below them.
Ollie Price’s Mangotsfield face two cup ties this coming week, with a trip to Cheltenham Town Reserves in the Gloucestershire Senior next up before they meet Kidlington in the FA Trophy.