Cheltenham 2's took to the field to play in their first match since forming in the summer against next door neighbours University of Gloucester.

The squad consisted of a mix of experienced and new faces with a number of players making their debuts.

The defensive lineup consisted of James Lloyd in goal and Rhys Topping, J D and Gareth Crow in defence with Tarik Crooks as Long Stick Midfield.

The midfield featured Gary Wood, Kel Monstad, Alex Bray and debutants Kev Williams and Joe Embery.

The attack featured Paul McGowan, Jack Lesniewski and Yuriy Syiek.

The Gloucester university squad had a mixture of players who have trained with Cheltenham and a number of Cougars veterans.

The first quarter saw Cheltenham gain possession immediately and a few efforts going short of the post.

Gloucester immediately counter attacked and had an offensive spell of their own, with Scott Griffiths shooting straight at goalkeeper James Lloyd.

The game took its time to come alive, and after a number of offsides from the home team, the deadlock was finally broken with Gary finding the net with an outside shot, beating Stephen Bennett with a low shot to give Cheltenham a well deserved lead going into the second quarter.

The second quarter saw Gloucester attacking, but with some excellent defensive displays from the Cheltenham back line and midfield, they kept the visitors from equalising with Kel displaying some good defensive and transitional displays.

After an offside was called against Cheltenham, Gloucester took advantage with a man up play with Joe Perkins beating the keeper at the near post to take the score level.

Cheltenham did not let this deter them and had some efforts saved and intercepted by the Gloucester defence and goalkeeper.

Just before half time, Gloucester nearly went ahead with Beattie being denied by the Cheltenham goalkeeper twice in a double save.

Cheltenham defence used the transitional midfielders to keep the ball in the opposition half to see out the end of the second quarter with the score tied.

In the third quarter, Gloucester took advantage of a quick series of errors from Cheltenham with a few passes going wide and a number of offsides being called.

They then took the lead with Joe Perkins dodging from top left to feed it to Curtis, who placed the goal in the bottom right corner.

Cheltenham took a time out to change up the attacking positions to find a way to get back into the game.

Efforts from Yuriy, Rhys and Jack were saved by Stephen Bennett and were slightly wide but couldn’t find the net.

Cheltenham did not let the frustration get to them and displayed a good number of defensive displays to show the visitors that they are firmly still in this game.

Near to the end of the quarter, Joe Perkins was denied a second goal with the Cheltenham keeper stopping a close shot with his foot after a flag was thrown for a slash.

The visitors were one goal ahead going into the final quarter with both teams hungry to take the win.

The final quarter showed how focused both teams were.

Gloucester had a number of attacking phases broken down by the home defence and after a number of good attempts, Yuriy Syiek drew the score level by dodging the defence and firing it into the top right.

Cheltenham found their drive and use this momentum with Joe Embery beating the Gloucester keeper with a low finish to give the Cougars the lead again.

The game was end to end with many saves and defensive interceptions.

Gloucester took the score level again with their captain Ethan Lee catching near the crease and shooting low with less than ten minutes to go of the game.

Cheltenham immediately responded with Kel Monstad driving through to score to give the home team the lead once again.

The game was not done, as a tired and hard working Cheltenham defence kept the visitors out until Richard Beattie took a feed from crease, turned and scored in the last ten seconds to draw the game.

Full time: Cheltenham 2's 4-4 University of Gloucestershire

An enjoyable match with end to end displays from both sides where the game could of gone either way.

Goalscorers for Cheltenham:
Gary Wood
Yuriy Syiek
Joe Embery
Kel Monstad

Goalscorers for UoG:
Joe Perkins
Curtis Hibberd
Ethan Lee
Richard Beattie

Man of the match for Cheltenham:
Kel Monstad - a key figure in both offense and defense and powering his way through the uni team with some brilliant ground balls and dodges.

Mentions also to Gary Wood, Yuriy Syiek, James Lloyd and Tarik Crooks.

Cheltenham 2's are back in action with an away visit to Cotswold rivals Bath on 26th September.