League Play-Off

Clevedon Stadium
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Clevedon's Ritchie Brindley started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. In the 6th minute, Olly Lundy hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Darius Townsend, 7 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. Leo Boyce sent away a hard shot on goal in the 11th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Clevedon's Simon Bradbury played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Leo Boyce in the 13th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Leo Boyce in the 15th minute of play forced Clevedon's goalkeeper Simon Bradbury to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Gravesend's Gav Butterfield proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 17th minute of the match, managed to save Gravesend from getting a goal against them. Byron Pollard sent away a hard shot on goal in the 23rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Gav Butterfield took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Ritchie Brindley, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Gav Butterfield showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ritchie Brindley in the 26th minute of the match. Byron Pollard received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Gav Butterfield came out and tried to block the shot, but Byron Pollard slotted it home off the left post making it 1-0 in the 27th minute. Leo Boyce spun around in front of the goal 33 minutes in the game, and got away a shot that, to his disappointment, went to the left of Clevedon's goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Leo Boyce in the 37th minute of play forced Clevedon's goalkeeper Simon Bradbury to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Ruben Hughes's late challenge caught a Gravesend's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Ruben Hughes helped the player get up and apologised. After a rather tough play, Clevedon's Ruben Hughes got a free kick in the 40th minute. Simon Bradbury didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Leo Boyce went, in the 44th minute, to the upper right corner, 1-1 was the resulting score. With his leg Gav Butterfield managed to avoid a goal in the 48thth minute, when Clevedon's Byron Pollard fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. After a very even first half the match was still tied. The players went to their respective dressing rooms to discuss the tactics for the second half.

Byron Pollard fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 53rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Gav Butterfield having to interfere. In the 55th minute, Ritchie Brindley made a precise shot to the right of Gav Butterfield. Gravesend's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 2-1. When the match had gone on for 60 minutes, Byron Pollard put it in 3-1 from a short distance just to the right of Gav Butterfield. Simon Bradbury didn't succeed in stopping the ball in the 64th minute, which inside left pole to 3-2. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Byron Pollard in the 67th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Gav Butterfield prevented the ball from getting in the gole. A collision led to Gravesend getting a freekick after 69 minutes play. Toby Monkhouse hit a great ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ritchie Brindley in the 74th minute of play forced Gravesend's goalkeeper Gav Butterfield to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Byron Pollard in the 75th minute of play forced Gravesend's goalkeeper Gav Butterfield to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After having played for 79 minutes, Danny Pullen managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Gravesend's supporters crossed their fingers, but Danny Pullen was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. With his leg Simon Bradbury managed to avoid a goal in the 82ndth minute, when Gravesend's Danny Pullen fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. In the 89th minute Johnnie Monkhouse shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Gav Butterfield saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Ritchie Brindley recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 94th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. For all the effort they put into the match, the Gravesend players left disappointed. They had fought hard, but couldn't break down the home team's defense. The match ended in a win for Clevedon.