Alfie May netted the most outrageous brace in recent times, after Tom Bradbury opened his Robins account to help Cheltenham Town to a 3-0 victory at the Western Homes Stadium.
The opening chance of the game came the way of Cheltenham as a defensive mix up between opposition ‘keeper Will Norris and defender Frankie Kent allowed May to chase down a ball over the top from Will Ferry. The forward travelled into the box and saw his shot blocked by Norris on a tight angle.
The Robins would break the deadlock from the resulting corner. Ferry’s corner was met with an assured right-footed volley from Bradbury, who’s strike nestled into the corner of the net, with Posh ‘keeper Norris planted to the ground. The centre half scoring his first goal in the Football League.
It only took six minutes for Cheltenham to double the lead. A genius piece of improvisation saw May control the ball a Ryan Jackson clearance, before swivelling out of a tight space on the by-line and launching a volleyed effort from the half way line over the head of Norris and into the empty net.
With less than half an hour played Posh turned to the bench to make a double substitution, with Nathan Thompson and Ollie Norburn being sent on.
The radical midgame change shocked some life into the home side as Joel Ward was able to find some room on the edge of the box, with his effort beating the dive of Luke Southwood, but rebounding off the crossbar.
Jonson Clarke-Harris thought he had halved the deficit moments before half time as he tapped in from close range, but the celebrations were cut short as the assistant referee flagged for offside.
Cheltenham’s high work ethic saw them repel a number of attacks from the hosts, with Southwood not being called into any real action.
The Robins number 10 May would double his account for the afternoon with another excellent finish. Jackson’s long throw was only partially cleared out to May on the edge of the box, who smashed the ball into the top right-hand corner of the net to score his 50th league goal for Town.
Wade Elliott’s side demonstrated good game management throughout the match, with the hosts relying on crosses from out wide to make the defence show any exertion. A frustrating afternoon was summed up for the hosts as Jack Taylor took a dive and saw himself go into the referees book for simulation.
The win sees Cheltenham Town move onto 40 points, extending the gap to the relegation zone to seven points with 10 games of the season remaining.
The Robins are next in league action next Saturday at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium agaisnt Exeter City as part of a double-header with the Women’s team.
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