Match Report
25th February 2017
Vanarama National League North
Whaddon Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL52 5NA
Gloucester City |
2 - 3 |
FC United of Manchester |
| Avery 16 Thomas 21 |
Lowe 66, 87 Greaves 86 |
|
| Attendance: 795 | ||
|
Gloucester City
1 Jas Singh (capt) |
FC United of Manchester
1 David Carnell |
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Nathan Lowe scored an 87th minute winner from inside his own half as FC United came back from 2-0 down to win a vital three points at Gloucester City on Saturday.
The Reds trailed 2-0 at halftime but a spectacular brace from Lowe and one from Tom Greaves saw them snatch victory.
A lacklustre performance saw FC United trailing 2-1 with five minutes to go but two goals in 60 seconds turned the game on its head to move Karl Marginson’s side nine points clear of the relegation zone.
Lowe got the comeback started in the 66th minute with a sublime chip into the far corner from 25 yards out.
Minutes later, the Reds should have been level when they were awarded a penalty for handball. However, captain Jerome Wright blasted his spotkick down the middle and it was easily saved.
But Greaves did find the equaliser four minutes from time with a shot from inside the box. And the Reds weren’t content with just a draw.
Less than a minute later, Lowe saw goalkeeper Jas Singh off his line and audaciously lobbed him from inside the centre circle, almost 60 yards out, to snatch victory in dramatic circumstances.
It was a classic game of two halves with the best and worse of FC United on display. The Reds started brightly and should have had a penalty inside the first five minutes when Wright was elbowed to the ground after playing a neat one-two with George Thomson.
The referee waved away the protests and soon afterwards the visitors virtually capitulated. Sam Avery gave the hosts the lead on 15 minutes as FC United failed to deal with a simple ball into the box.
And six minutes later it was 2-0 as the Reds once again stood off from City, allowing Luke Thomas to double the lead.
With an hour on the clock, FC United looked like a toothless team desperately slipping towards a relegation battle. However, Lowe took the game by the scruff of the neck to oversee a fantastic fightback.
As well as the saved penalty, United also had a goal disallowed - their fourth in four games against Gloucester. It wasn’t clear whether the linesman’s flag was raised for offside or a push. But the cross into the box was turned home directly by Gloucester defender Spencer Hamilton, which suggests offside wouldn’t have been the correct decision.
Fortunately, the Reds were in the mood to score more goals and Greaves struck the equaliser. And whilst the travelling FC United fans were still celebrating Greaves’ goal, Lowe lobbed home an incredible winner.
The travelling Red Army went wild in Whaddon Road barely able to believe what they’d just seen. Gloucester tried desperately to find an unlikely equaliser in the final minutes but FC United held out without any scares. The Reds had finally tamed The Tigers at the fourth attempt after being robbed by controversial decisions in each of the previous three meetings.
Website man of the match: Nathan Lowe - FC United needed someone to stand up and be counted. Lowe did so in spectacular fashion.
Report by Matthew Haley
The Reds trailed 2-0 at halftime but a spectacular brace from Lowe and one from Tom Greaves saw them snatch victory.
A lacklustre performance saw FC United trailing 2-1 with five minutes to go but two goals in 60 seconds turned the game on its head to move Karl Marginson’s side nine points clear of the relegation zone.
Lowe got the comeback started in the 66th minute with a sublime chip into the far corner from 25 yards out.
Minutes later, the Reds should have been level when they were awarded a penalty for handball. However, captain Jerome Wright blasted his spotkick down the middle and it was easily saved.
But Greaves did find the equaliser four minutes from time with a shot from inside the box. And the Reds weren’t content with just a draw.
Less than a minute later, Lowe saw goalkeeper Jas Singh off his line and audaciously lobbed him from inside the centre circle, almost 60 yards out, to snatch victory in dramatic circumstances.
It was a classic game of two halves with the best and worse of FC United on display. The Reds started brightly and should have had a penalty inside the first five minutes when Wright was elbowed to the ground after playing a neat one-two with George Thomson.
The referee waved away the protests and soon afterwards the visitors virtually capitulated. Sam Avery gave the hosts the lead on 15 minutes as FC United failed to deal with a simple ball into the box.
And six minutes later it was 2-0 as the Reds once again stood off from City, allowing Luke Thomas to double the lead.
With an hour on the clock, FC United looked like a toothless team desperately slipping towards a relegation battle. However, Lowe took the game by the scruff of the neck to oversee a fantastic fightback.
As well as the saved penalty, United also had a goal disallowed - their fourth in four games against Gloucester. It wasn’t clear whether the linesman’s flag was raised for offside or a push. But the cross into the box was turned home directly by Gloucester defender Spencer Hamilton, which suggests offside wouldn’t have been the correct decision.
Fortunately, the Reds were in the mood to score more goals and Greaves struck the equaliser. And whilst the travelling FC United fans were still celebrating Greaves’ goal, Lowe lobbed home an incredible winner.
The travelling Red Army went wild in Whaddon Road barely able to believe what they’d just seen. Gloucester tried desperately to find an unlikely equaliser in the final minutes but FC United held out without any scares. The Reds had finally tamed The Tigers at the fourth attempt after being robbed by controversial decisions in each of the previous three meetings.
Website man of the match: Nathan Lowe - FC United needed someone to stand up and be counted. Lowe did so in spectacular fashion.
Report by Matthew Haley
Previous Meetings
| 29/10/2016 | 2-4L |
| 19/12/2015 | 1-2L |
| 08/08/2015 | 1-0L |