Cheltenham brush aside Fleetwood to move further clear of danger

Posted Sunday, February 13, 2022 by PA

Cheltenham claimed a comfortable 2-0 home win over struggling Fleetwood to further ease their relegation fears.

The Robins had enjoyed a morale-boosting mid-week victory over Sunderland and they dominated proceedings after one early scare.

Paddy Lane thumped an effort into the side-netting for Fleetwood within a minute of kick-off, but that was about as much as the away side mustered in the first half.

Former Fleetwood wide man Matty Blair smashed a shot against the bar in the 17th minute after Callum Wright’s pass, but the deadlock was broken four minutes before half-time.

Elliot Bonds found the Robins’ leading scorer Alfie May and he beat Alex Cairns from 12 yards, despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to his effort.

It was May’s 14th of the season in league and cup and, less than four minutes later, Charlie Raglan was celebrating his first.

May’s corner was half-cleared to Mattie Pollock on the right and the Watford loanee delivered a fine cross for his centre-back partner, with Raglan powering a header inside the right post.

There were few signs of a fightback in the second half, with Owen Evans having to push away a header from Zak Jules in the 54th minute, but Cheltenham saw out the game comfortably and Wright nearly made it 3-0 late on, but his shot hit a post.