Match Report: City 4-2 Gosport

jadenhughes2003
Aug 9
2 min read

Updated: Aug 10

Gloucester City defeated Gosport Borough 4-2 in a six-goal thriller at the TigerTurf Stadium on Saturday, on the opening day of the 2025-26 Southern League Premier Division South season.

It was a nervy opening few minutes for the hosts as Gosport found themselves with plenty of possession in the City box, though they couldn’t capitalise on any of their chances.

Despite the start, City grew into the game, and would see themselves take an early lead after Ellis Watts’ shot was saved by the Gosport goalkeeper, with the ball falling into the path of Harry Emmett who smashed it in to score City’s first goal of the season.

It wouldn’t take long for City to double their lead, as just two minutes after the first goal, Joe Hanks smashed it in from the penalty spot, after King Baidoo was fouled in the box.

Boro would begin to see more of the ball again following the second goal, and created a few goal-scoring opportunities, but the City defence remained resilient to preserve their lead.

The game would turn end-to-end as both teams found themselves with chances in the opposition box, but it was the Tigers who would strike again after some dazzling dribbling down the right-hand side from Watts, before he squared it to Hanks who found the bottom-left corner to score his second of the day.

The visitors would get one back a few minutes later, however, after a counter-attack saw Ethan Taylor played through, who found the far-corner on the 40th minute mark.

After a brilliant first 45, City would start the second-half in the same vein, with Watts’ curling effort tipped over by the Boro keeper, whilst Harry Pinchard made a driving run with the ball before hitting it into the T-End.

Charlie Gunson headed the ball in from a corner to reduce the deficit for the away side, on the hour.

Nerves would slightly set in for the home side as Gosport pushed for an equaliser, though City still created chances of their own, with one seeing substitute Kieran Phillips take it round the keeper, who looked to slot it into an empty net, before a Boro defender made a last-ditch sliding block to deny the City number nine.

Sion Spence made a positive impact off the bench for City, with one his strikes from a counter-attack going agonisingly wide, despite the fans in the ground thinking it had gone in the back of the net.

Spence would continue to influence the game, as he played a tidy pass to Watts, whose effort was a tame one at the goalkeeper.

The game remained scrappy in the closing moments, but City would restore a two-goal advantage in the 90th minute after an own-goal from Gosport Borough captain Rory Williams, with City’s fourth goal enough to secure all three points.

City travel away to Hungerford Town on Tuesday evening.