By Lawrence Stanley
Tre Mitford scored twice as Gloucester City came from behind to beat National League North leaders King’s Lynn at the TigerTurf Stadium.
After conceding early on in the match, City always looked a threat and got their just reward when Mitford equalised on the stroke of half-time.
Then, in what was a closely contested second period with some golden opportunities for the visitor’s, the Tigers took the lead thanks to Mitford again who finished clinically to complete the turnaround.
King’s Lynn threw everything at it at the end but some brilliant defending was enough to keep Steven King’s unbeaten league run going.
Gloucester started well and the first real chance came when Matt Buse took a quick free kick which found Matt McClure who forced a save down low from Paul Jones.
City found joy down the left side and almost broke the deadlock after Ben Nugent won possession and played it through to Mitford who tried to find a red and yellow shirt but to no avail.
McClure had a great chance after the ball fell to him via Dom McHale’s floated free kick into the box but the forward blazed over.
Then in the visitor’s first attack of the game, Joshua Barrett layed it off to Theo Widdrington who connected brilliantly with his strike to give the Linnets the lead against the run of play.
The goal gave King’s Lynn a spark and allowed them to come into the game, forcing some good stops from Brandon Hall in the City goal.
McHale was the Tigers’ best outlet for creating chances in the first half and found space in the box, feeding Daniel Leadbitter who hit the post with his shot and the rebound was sent wide by Junior Tiensia.
The away side almost doubled their advantage after Widdrington fired at Hall who palmed it to Jordan Ponticelli and his attempt was wayward. Then another great chance was missed when Ben Stephens couldn’t make full contact with his effort after having time in the box.
King’s Lynn would pay for those misses as Gloucester levelled in first half stoppage-time. Ben Morgan slid a pass into Mitford who was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and coolly slotted home to give City a deserved equaliser.
The Linnets came out strong after halftime. Michael Clunan thundered a shot which stung the hands of Hall. There was some heroic defending from new signing Temi Eweka as he blocked a shot on the line and Linnets man Cameron Hargreaves put the rebound high into the stands.
City’s first look at goal in the second half came from a short corner that almost caught the away side out as substitute Owen Evans linked up well with Buse who made Jones work to deny Gloucester the lead.
The hosts would take the lead through Mitford again after he cut inside just outside the box and finished low in the bottom left corner following some good build up play from the hosts involving McHale and McClure.
King’s Lynn had a couple of good chances in the last 15 minutes. Hall did well to get down low quickly when stopping a header from a corner and Widdrington struck a free kick well that just whisked past the post.
But City defended valiantly and were able to hold on to a huge win against the league leaders.
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