Chelmsford City have halted their poor run of form with a comfortable victory against Gloucester City on Saturday at Melbourne Stadium.
The Clarets were without their manager Rod Stringer as he was still serving a stadium ban but this didn’t stop them from putting in a good performance.
Gloucester have picked up just one point from their last five games and they are well and truly in a relegation battle this season.
No Number Nine
The hosts were without a recognised striker in the squad, but this benefitted them as Jonny Giles and Tom Wraight filled in excellently as a forward pairing.
The first 20 minutes showed that this was going to be a scrappy affair as both sides struggled to get a hold of the ball in threatening situations.
Gloucester’s goalkeeper Jojo Woollacot was forced into his first save in the 21st minute when Wraight’s pinpoint cross found Giles’ head. Woollacot sprung to his left and pushed the ball to safety.
Breakthrough
Five minutes later Chelmsford were awarded a penalty when Giles was hacked down by Sam Avery after a swift counter attack forced the Gloucester captain to cynically foul the Chelmsford midfielder.
It appeared as if the initial contact was outside the box, but the referee saw otherwise and Wraight stepped up to take the penalty.
The former Maidstone player saw his penalty saved but managed to poke in from the rebound much to the delight of the home fans.
Chelmsford found themselves 1-0 up under fortuitous circumstances but this certainly put a spring in their step.
Giles and Wraight once again linked up well but the former couldn’t quite direct his header on goal.
The Gloucester side lacked any real impetus going forward and there were no noteworthy moments for the Clarets’ back line to deal with before the half time whistle.
On The Double
The second half began with a similar tempo, but Chelmsford soon doubled their lead.
Chez Isaac attempted a cross but it deflected off a Gloucester defender and looped into the air, sailed over the head of the keeper and hit an oblivious defender and rolled in.
Another goal that was not particularly pleasing on the eye, but everyone associated with the club will take it considering the way their games have been going recently.
Shortly after the goal, Wraight again made himself a nuisance in the box, just finding enough space to direct a header towards goal but it just missed at the near post.
Toothless Tigers
Gloucester really needed to find some inspiration from somewhere if they were to have any chance of getting back into this game, but this was nowhere to be found.
They began to dominate the ball in the midfield areas, but their attacking play was so disjointed that the Chelmsford central defensive pairing had little to nothing to do.
The only time they looked like threatening Ashley Maynard-Brewers goal was from set pieces, but the newly signed goalkeeper comfortably held all the freekicks and corners within his range.
The full-time whistle was met with glee from the Chelmsford support as they climbed back into contention for a playoff spot. As for Gloucester, they stay just above the relegation spots and in dire need of an upturn in form.
Twitter Reacts
Next up for the Claret’s they host Braintree in the Essex Senior Cup on Monday evening. Their next league game is away at bottom of the table East Thurrock United on Saturday.
