A rusty Reserve side overcame a difficult Blyth team in the 4th Round of the Minor Cup on a heavy pitch to secure passage to the Quarter Finals. Following over a month without a Reserve Team fixture the display understandably lacked cohesion and quality with only patches of half decent play.

The Reserves took the lead through a quality finish from Harry Tulip who went on to record another hatrick in this competition, however an uncharateristic goalkeeping error by Mickey Robertshaw gifted the opposition a quick equaliser.

The Reserves again went ahead and Mickey atoned for his previous error by making a smart save from the penalty spot following a foul committed by Paul Turner. However the green and blacks disappointingly conceded another soft goal when the opposition No 4 slotting home from a seemingly impossibly tight angle and through a handful of home team defenders. The Reserves went ahead again when Matty Laws, returning after an absence of 2 months, slotted in a backpost header from a corner.

The second half witnessed more scrappy play and although the Reserves extended their lead through the pace of Harry, a third goal from the opposition led to a nervous final few minutes. The manner of the victory was not pleasing on the eye albeit all players displayed excellent determination and graft.

However the Reserves cannot expect to play so poorly again and come away with a result,  Nevertheless a victory against a Blyth team flying high in the league was satisfying given the length of time without a game and the remainder of January provides an opportunity to prepare for the Quarter Finals of the Minor Cup in February.

Author: A.Parkinson

Team: Robertshaw, Parkinson, Turner, Laws (C) 1, Riley, Guest, G.Kent, L.Kent, Mitchell, Skilbeck, Tulip 3 (MOM). Subs: McGill, Alcock, Hedderman.

NB: The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the
views of the Gosforth Garnett Bohemian Football Club as a whole.