Gloucestershire County League

Broadwell Amts 4-1 Ruardean Hill Rangers

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AFTER an early morning inspection, this Boxing Day derby went ahead in front of more than 200 supporters.

It took just 10 minutes for Broadwell to take the lead when a Craig Tait free-kick on the edge of the penalty area was met by Danny Latham, who headed the ball into the path of Steve Belfitt to tap home from close range.

The lead was short lived though, with Ruardean level just a minute later.

A poor clearance by Ben Fishwick found Luke Brown whose effort was saved by keeper Reed only for the ball to fall to Stuart Cornwell Boote who gratefully fired into the empty net.

The visitors were the better side for the next 10 minutes, with Luke Johnson seeing his well-timed volley sail over the bar.

But Sam Keatch for the hosts played a quick one-two with Craig Tait on the edge of the box to draw a save from keeper Arran Underwood.

And on 35 minutes Broadwell retook the lead, as veteran Steve Belfitt was first to the ball from a Tait corner before firing high into the roof of the net.

In the second half the hosts exploited gaps in the Ruardean defence, Liam Thomas seeing at least three efforts go over the bar.

On 80 minutes he latched onto a loose ball from a free-kick to fire home from 12 yards.

Manager Stuart Liddington brought on two U17 players for the final 10 minutes, Dan Brain and Brennan Baldwin.

And with time almost up on the clock, Baldwin saw his first effort on goal saved by Underwood only fto smash in the rebound from 12 yards.

It was a well-deserved victory in difficult conditions for Broadwell, with referee Kevin Slade in total control of the game.