Cinderford Town 3 Shortwood United 4

Southern League Division One South & West

CINDERFORD Town finished their season with a Jekyll and Hyde performance to end the campaign on a sour note against the bare 11 of Shortwood.

Town led 2-0 at half-time at the Causeway on Wednesday night through a Craig Norman double.

But the visitors from Nailsworth struck back in a 10-minute salvo to secure their final Southern League win before resigning from the competition.

With ex-Town manager Chris Burns and son Harry in the away side’s ranks, and former Cinderford physio and joint manager Allan Gough in their dugout, the parallels were plenty when comparing Shortwood’s current plight with that of Cinderford Town’s not too long ago.

There was even a floodlight failure late in the second half to envelop the Causeway in pitch black darkness.

Town initially dominated United, as Richard Greaves tested Lloyd Price with low left-footed drive before Lewis Bamford rounded Price, only to be flagged offside.

United had their chances in the early stages, as Jordan Morris went round Cameron Clarke in the Town goal but saw his effort blocked by home captain Jack Alderdice.

Tom Palmer was put clean through after 14 minutes when Norman lost possession in midfield, but Clarke stopped his first shot and the rebound was skewed wide with the goal at his mercy.

Norman thumped home on 22 minutes to put Town ahead and 10 minutes later combined intricately with Bamford and Greaves to double the advantage.

But just seven minutes after the half-time break, a poor defensive header from Nick Rhodes allowed Harry Burns to beat Clarke and claw a goal back for Shortwood.

United were level two minutes later when Palmer finished with composure when one-on-one with Clarke.

On 56 minutes, Harry Burns’ penalty was saved by Clarke but the rebound was netted by Yesh Lomotey and Town found themselves ruing defensive lapses to fall behind.

Ex-Town man Nick Humphries buried a chance superbly across goal to make it 4-2 after 67 minutes, before the Causeway floodlights went out with seven minutes remaining.

Bamford headed a great cross from sub Ben Watkins wide before Greaves shot over when well placed, but Dan Macdonald’s low, driven free-kick a minute before time made it 4-3.