Cheddar Albion 3

Star 66 2

Albion battled their way into the League Plate semi-final with a hard-fought win over Star 66 of Gloucester, with two goals from Tom Knight and one from John Edwards.

Albion started slowly as Star 66 took an early lead to shock the home side. An attempted clearance from captain Cam Crook unfortunately hit centre-half partner Will Manners, only to fall invitingly for the visitors' centre-forward to calmly slot the ball past Joe Cowell in goal.

Albion responded well and put pressure on their opponents, with chances falling to Knight and Edwards in quick succession. Edwards then made the breakthrough with a great run into the box and a neat finish to level the scores.

Not to be outdone, Knight pounced on a mix-up in the Star 66 defence to grab the second goal and put Albion into a 2-1 lead.

Albion were soon under pressure again after the restart and relying on a solid defensive display from Josh Day, Crook, Manners and left-back and man of the match Joe Harris.

The two lightning-quick Star 66 forwards caused problems and their endeavours paid off when they created and scored an excellent equaliser.

The game remained tight, but both sides were keen to grab a winner to book a semi-final place. Chances came and went at both ends, but it was Albion who managed to edge in front again.

Knight broke clear of the visitors' defence to score what turned out to be the winner when he slightly miscued his shot to deceive the keeper as the ball ended up in the bottom right corner.

Albion showed great spirit to come back from a goal down early on, and then again to go on to find a winner after they had again been pegged back by a good Star 66 side.

The reward for their efforts is an away trip in the semi-final against Southside, Cheltenham, on March 28.