Davis is looking to maintain excellent run in derby clash

Reece Bayliss played a big part in Ardley United's victory at Tuffley Rovers

Davis saw his side produce a fine comeback to beat Tuffley Rovers 5-3 in Saturday’s UHLSport Hellenic League clash.

Ardley fought back from two goals down at Glevum Park to continue their ascent up the premier division table.

From the outset, Ardley took control of the game and should have been out of sight in the first 30 minutes but, for all their clear-cut chances, time and again they failed to find the net.

In the five-minute spell before the break, Tuffley made Ardley pay for their profligacy by taking a 2-0 lead. Warren Mann wrong-footed his marker before firing home and Brett James converted a penalty awarded for a foul on Jordan Fletcher.

Straight from the kick-off, Ardley were awarded a penalty when Tuffley keeper Phil Clarke brought down Ade Talabi, receiving a red card for his trouble to rub salt into the wound.

Replacement keeper Marcus Foxwell came off the bench and saved Reece Bayliss’s penalty to preserve his side’s two-goal advantage at the break.

But three minutes into the second period, Foxwell blotted his copybook, allowing a Bayliss free-kick to slip through his grasp and into the net to give the visitors a boost.

Two minutes later Bayliss was again involved in the equaliser as he pulled the ball back for Lewis Hayden to side-foot home.

Tuffley had their workforce further reduced on 63 minutes when Callum Preece was dismissed for a second caution following a foul on Talabi just outside the box.

Ardley were in complete control and duly took the lead through Chris Jackson’s header from a corner kick.

Substitute Bradley Cox increased their advantage, heading home a cross with his first touch of the ball.

Talabi’s individual effort, when he hammered into the roof of the net from an acute angle, maintained his goal-a-game ratio.

Tuffley reduced the arrears when an attempted clearance struck the back of a Tuffley forward and rebounded into the net to add a little respectability to the final scoreline.

A welcome three points as Ardley maintain their climb up the table. But they will wonder how they so nearly allowed Tuffley to threaten that when they had controlled so much of the game.