Fairford Town 2 North Leigh United 1

By Chris Tanner

JOSH Gregory stepped off the bench to head home a late winner to seal a place in the next round of the Bluefin Sport Supplementary Cup.

Fairford came from behind to seal the win, inflicting a first defeat in six games for visitors North Leigh United who put on an impressive showing.

The home side made changes to the starting line-up with Kallum Thomas and Conor Lynch both cup-tied and Dan Reynolds rested after making a recent comeback from injury.

There were chances for both sides early on with Ben Saunders twice going close whilst Jake Steele came closest for the Division One West side.

The second half was a much livelier encounter with home stopper Ben Mitchell making a string of fine saves to keep the Cinder Lane side in the tie.

It took a super strike to break the deadlock, with Ben Strong curling home an unstoppable effort in the 76th minute.

However, Fairford’s Lee Smith found the perfect response with an equally impressive finish, as his effort four minutes later also found the top corner.

And the game looked to be heading for an unwanted period of extra-time when Gregory stooped to head home Dan Bailey’s cross from the left to seal a second home victory inside seven days for the Reds.

Fairford Town: Mitchell; Worgan (Hemming ‘69), Brian (Gregory ’46), Barstow, Oakes; Bailey, Hawkins, Boucher, Preece (Bevan ’80), Saunders, Smith