Report & highlights: Fleetwood Town 3-2 Robins
21 August 2021
Cheltenham Town slipped to their second League One defeat of the season following a dramatic ending at Fleetwood Town's Highbury Stadium.
It wasn't a bad performance by any means and they deserved to be on terms as the contest entered the closing stages but they paid the price for some poor moments of defending here.
It was delicately balanced as the game entered its final ten minutes but three late goals, two in favour of the home side, handed the hosts their first victory of the campaign.
Callum Wright gave Michael Duff's side an early lead on the Fylde Coast but they had been pegged back by the interval but looked to have secured a share the spoils with Alfie May's strike two minutes from time.
Then Shayden Morris, who posed a threat down the right all afternoon, crashed one home as the game entered added-on time, denying Duff's men a deserved share of the spoils.
"I'm disappointed," Duff said afterwards.
"We've gone up a league but nobody's opened us up yet. We're just giving poor goals away.
"That's three corners we've conceded from. They've had three shots from outside the box and it was a poor goal at the end.
"In my opinion it's a game we should have won."
Duff made two changes, bringing in Scott Flinders and Alfie May for Owen Evans and Kyle Vassell who had picked up a slight calf strain after the win against Ipswich Town four days ago.
Wright's second goal in as many games set Michael Duff's men on their way, scoring into the bottom right-hand corner after just eight minutes.
Liam Sercombe started the move from the half-way live, sliding a ball into Andy Williams who helped it into the path of the in-form midfielder and he beat Alex Cairns with a low left footer from the edge of the box.
Danny Andrew called Flinders into his first stop of the afternoon with quarter of an hour played, meeting a corner from the Fleetwood right with a well struck volley.
But the home side were level 12 minutes before the break and it came about after a move down their right, which is where they were enjoying a bit of success through Shayden Morris.
On this occasion though it was Ryan Edmondson who beat Ben Tozer to roll across a ball to Harrison Biggins, but he couldn't reach it and Sean Long cleared the danger for a corner. However Tom Clarke met it with a powerful header to square the contest.
There was a late chance for Charlie Raglan with a back post downward header, but it was pushed away by Cairns.
Williams was replaced by George Lloyd at the break but it was Fleetwood who created the next chances, two of which Flinders brilliantly saved while the other came back off the woodwork, Darnell Johnson with the header.
Callum Morton, the striker who bagged two in the ill-fated 3-0 play-off semi-final defeat by Northmpton Town two years ago, was sent on shortly after the hour (for Edmondson) while Sercombe made way for Taylor Perry with 14 minutes remaining.
But it was the former Cobbler who played a decisive role in his side's second and third goals.
First he met Andrew's corner with a firm header which was cleared but only as far as Johnson, who stabbed home from six yards.
Then against the run of play May popped up at the other end, two minutes from time, to accept a defensive gift to bag a seemingly unlikely equaliser.
But Morton picked up play as the game moved into injury time, carried it into the box and wrestled by Long. The ball squirmed into the path of Morris who made no mistake with the chance to notch his side's first won of the season.
FLEETWOOD TOWN (4-3-3): Cairns; Johnson, T Clarke, Holgate, Andrew; Camps (Batty 73), Rossiter (c), Biggins; Morris, Edmondson (Morton 63), Pilkington (Garner 79). Subs not used: Crellin (Gk), Matete, Hill, M Clark.
CHELTENHAM TOWN (3-5-2): Flinders (Gk); Raglan (Blair 84), Tozer (c), Boyle; Long, Wright, Thomas, Sercombe (Perry 76), Hussey; May, Williams (Lloyd 46). Subs not used: Evans (Gk), Freestone, Chapman, Bonds.
REFEREE: A Haines
ATTENDANCE: 2,392
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