Youth Football: Garden City - 4 Fairford Town U/12 - 1 (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Youth Football: Garden City - 4 Fairford Town U/12 - 1

FAIRFORD'S brief winning run came to an end but they played just as well in this match as they had done in their previous two wins.

In the first half, Fairford dominated possession but two pieces of slack marking, one from a cross and another from a corner, cost them dearly as Garden City converted their only two chances of the half.

With man-of-the-match Henry Rogers at the heart of every Fairford move, the visitors certainly didn't deserve to be behind at half-time.

Midfielder Alex Hall's intelligent running in support of the strikers, stretched the Garden City defence on several occasions but Fairford just couldn't capitalise on their share of the play.

Unfortunately, knocks to the hard-tackling Peter Williams and Duncan Paterson, prompting their substitutions, meant that Fairford lost control of the midfield battle in the second half.

They still forced their way back into the game with 10 minutes remaining when Tom Lander burst clear and fired an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.

Sadly, for the visitors, Garden City re-established their two-goal advantage virtually from the kick-off when Fairford failed to clear the ball in a goalmouth scramble.

Fairford were now under pressure but the always reliable Sam Davies and his central defensive partner Sam Bird continued to have good games, while Stevie Lloyd and Josh Bennett also worked hard in defence.

Then, with just three minutes left, Garden City put the game beyond reach with a deflected goal which made the final scoreline rather flattering for the home team.