Cinderford Town 2

Shortwood United 1

THESE two teams put on an entertaining show on Tuesday night for the sparse Causeway crowd.

Hellenic League Shortwood were without James Singh, Ashley Thomas, Ryan Preddy, Kevin Slack and Ross Casey, but still gave a good account of themselves.

Town's starting XI included their three former Hereford United Academy players, full-back Ashley Malcolm, wide midfielder Dean Lee and centre-forward Will Loughman.

Ben John, who has been linked with other clubs in pre-season, also returned to play in goal.

Loughman had a great opportunity to score early in the game, but blasted over the bar.

Cinderford took the lead midway through the first half after being awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box.

Dale Evans, who has been appointed club captain this season, nonchalantly flicked the ball over the wall and into the bottom corner of the net.

Town switched off after scoring and were soon caught out by a throw-in deep in their half.

Chris Mortlock turned inside centre-half Dale Peckham and drilled the equaliser past John.

It nearly got worse for Town two minutes later when more flat-footed defending left Tim Haddock free at the back post. Luckily for the hosts, he shot wide with the goal gaping.

Both sides had chances to take a lead into the break – Jackson fluffing a close range effort for Shortwood, and Mike Whittington heading over for Town when unmarked at the back post.

In the second half Cinderford took control of the midfield.

They went in front on 52 minutes through Dale Evans, who found the net after some good trickery from Lee on the left.

Cinderford lost goalkeeper Ben John to a thigh strain on the hour mark, replacing him with Alex Harris.

Steve Peters also introduced Greg Lewis, Brad Andrews, Dan Harrison, Matt Barnes and Nick McCootie from the bench.

McCootie made the most impact with his strong, direct running, but Shortwood rallied to finish the game strongly.

With time running out, Jackson flashed an effort wide of the post for the visitors.

Cinderford Town: Ben John, Ashley Malcolm, Dale Peckham, Warren Archer, Andy Lewis, Nick Hancock, Dale Evans (captain), Craig Tait, Dean Lee, Mike Whittington, Will Loughman. Subs: Alex Harris, Greg Lewis, Nick McCootie, Brad Andrews, Matt Barnes, Dan Harrison.