Gerrard League Stroud Men's 1st XI 3 Neath 4

A FANTASTIC fight back saw Stroud go close to turning over a 4-1 deficit against Neath on Saturday.

Earlier, Neath unexpectedly took the lead, but. Stroud were quick to respond, however, and deservedly equalised as Steve Shipp's run down the left produced a fine cross that was delicately converted by Tim Norman.

However, it was unfortunate that Neath's few scoring chances were taken and Stroud found themselves inexplicably 4 - 1 behind with 10 minutes left. The home team rallied, however, and gave a storming finale to impress the watching crowd.

Norman and Alex Waring stretched the Neath defence with speed and movement. This enabled the hard-working Andy Hines to net a coolly-taken shot.

As Stroud pressed forward again, the two forwards combined to give Waring a neat goal, but time just ran out and a battling Stroud came off second best.