G T Sports 5 v 3 Paulton Rovers Sunday

G T clinched a league and cup treble in a pulsating Tom Morgan Cup Final against a determined Paulton Rovers outfit.
Paulton made a bright start but their good work was undone on 18 minutes when Tony Bennett scythed down Jake Turpin inside the penalty area, and David Grey stroked home the resulting spot-kick, sending Simon Chivers the wrong way.
They were back on level terms almost immediately when Bennett’s free-kick was only cleared as far as Dan Baber, who took a touch and rifled the ball into the roof of the net past a helpless Sam Cottell from 15 yards.
The Division Three side went into a shock lead on 28 minutes when Bennett’s shot was too hot to handle for Cottell, who spilled it straight to Aaron Whittock, the forward gleefully dispatching from close range.
It took just two minutes for Sports to be back on level terms. Ashley Scott received the ball from a short corner and drove through a crowd of bodies past Chivers, who was hampered by a slight deflection.
Whittock added his second in a breathless spell of play, diverting in Pete James’ free-kick past a stunned Cottell to leave the Division Three side 3-2 up at half-time.
G T made three changes at the break with one of them, Ben Wych, who scored a hat-trick in the Stan Milsom Cup Final, making his mark on 57 minutes. The front man capitalised on a ball over the top to delicately lob Chivers.
Grey nabbed his second on 69 minutes, shortly before he was substituted, guiding in Turpin’s cross from an acute angle to regain the Division One champions’ lead.
Wych increased his tally 90 seconds later, hammering home after patient build-up play against their tired opponents.
It proved to be the final goal of the game as in the end G T’s superiority told, but they were made to fight all the way by a side two divisions below.