Premier Comb’n Angell sees red before quitting as Iron Acton boss
IBRAHIMA Seck struck twice as ten-man Roman Glass St George Reserves gave themselves another welcome lift in their drive up the Bristol Premier Combination Division One table – while beaten opponents Iron Acton unexpectedly found themselves seeking a new manager in the aftermath.
Saints are enjoying a much better season following a troublesome previous one and recorded a fifth win in nine appearances, courtesy of a 3-2 victory at Whiteway Road.
Rahib Rehman scored the home side’s other goal to help elevate his team into fifth position ahead of this Saturday’s away date with De Veys at Ironmould Lane (2pm).
A close contest was played out on a heavy and uneven pitch, while the strong wind and rain made conditions tougher still.
The game looked to be turning Iron Acton’s way when Saints’ Ibrahima Ndiaye was dismissed for a late challenge and then John Ruff put them 1-0 up at the break.
But Roman Glass provided a stunning second-half riposte as they surged into a 2-1 lead, only for Harry Burke to restore parity for the Yate-based side five minutes from time.
However, the ten men still weren’t finished and, straight from the restart, a magnificent finish from an acute angle earned Saints victory.
Iron Acton found themselves seeing out the remaining moments with ten men, too, following a red card issued to player-manager Jamie Angell by referee Rob Stenner for violent conduct.
After the game Angell resigned as Acton boss, prompting a sudden search for a replacement.
Iron Acton secretary Chris Wilmot said: “Jamie decided that after a decade at Acton he had given all he had to give.
“He will be missed because he’s a massive personality. Jamie’s legacy will be that he was the manager who achieved Adam Taylor’s dream to secure promotion back to the Bristol Premier Combination. Our challenge now is to find a new leader.
“In the meantime, our current reserve-team manager Chris Sweet has been installed as interim manager until end of the season.
“That means our club stalwart Lynden Taylor and Paul Minchin will now manage the reserves until end of the season, with the aim of minimising disruption and uncertainty while planning for next season.”
Meanwhile, it was business as usual at the top of the table as Winterbourne United made it nine wins from nine games since the the start of the season with a 3-0 victory over Real Thornbury on the Oaklands Park 3G.
Another terrific all-round performance led to an early breakthrough goal for Ashley White, before Sam Makepeace and Ben Weaver hit the target in the second half to seal the win.
Greyfriars Athletic went goal crazy as they put travelling Bristol Manor Farm Reserves to the sword, winning 7-2.
Jesse Hudson, Tom Haim and Harrison Hardy all netted twice, with Phil Mills also on the scoresheet.
Manor Farm, who trailed 5-0 at half-time, did pull two goals back, through Jordan Dent’s penalty and Stuart Gray’s header from a corner, prompting manager Bill Bond to say: “I have to give the lads lots of credit as we changed the shape and were the better side in the second half.”
Olveston United’s Premier Division difficulties continued as they were beaten 3-2 at home by highriding Highridge United.
The O’s began brightly, missing several chances to break the deadlock, profligacy they were left to rue when Highridge scored three times within a 15-minute spell through Lee Pitman’s double and a Jamie Godfrey effort.
Olveston pulled a goal back through Alex Thornton five minutes before half-time and went on to add a second, via man-of-thematch Phil Williams’ strike into the bottom corner of the net, to spark renewed hope in the O’s camp before time ran out on them.
Shaftesbury Crusade were indebted to David Chinnick for providing their late equaliser in an exciting 2-2 home draw with Longwell Green Sports Reserves.
The outcome was a big disappointment for the visitors after goals from Tom Summerhill and Jamie Comley had twice given them the lead. George Neill was Shaftesbury’s other scorer.
Shirehampton Reserves were spot-on in a penalty shoot-out as they squeezed into the quarterfinals of the GFA Senior Amateur Cup at the expense of Bristol Premier Combination rivals Pucklechurch Sports.
A highly entertaining and wellfought game at Penpole Lane ended in goalless stalemate after 90 minutes.
The tie went straight to penalties and Shire eventually progressed 4-3, with Muhammad Jeng triumphantly scoring the winning spotkick for the hosts.