Town forced to settle for a draw at Gloucester

In-form frontman Simon Ainge was on target once again as the men from the CNG Stadium did enough to win the game in they eyes of manager Simon Weaver, only to be undone by “one moment of sloppiness”.

“I’ve got to give credit to the lads again, I thought they were superb,” he said.

“We just got out of sync at the back for one moment. I can’t nail the lads for that one moment in the game but it’s cost us and it hurts all the more because we’ve been magnificent for the rest [of the match].

“I think we deserved the three points, so it’s two points dropped in that way, but we just have to keep believing and keep fighting because this is a team that is definitely getting stronger and stronger.

“While we’re not getting what we probably deserve at the minute, we can’t play the hard luck story, we have to just keep going until the last ball [of the season] is kicked.”

After a first half in which chances were few and far between, both of the afternoon’s goals arrived just one minute apart.

First Simon Ainge continued his fine form in front of goal, almost taking the net off with a thunderous strike after 58 minutes, seconds after clearing the crossbar from just a yard out.

The hosts were not behind for long, however, as top scorer Luke Hopper produced a clever finish from inside the Town box within 60 seconds of his side conceding at the other end.

The result keeps Weaver’s men 10th in the league standings, one place and one point ahead of Gloucester, but still seven points shy of the play-offs.