| The City promotion bandwaggon rolls on with just one win from the next six games needed to secure a spot in next seasons reformed Premier Division. |
| Adam Howarth was missing from the centre of defence as he was due to play for Oxford United reserves the following night. It would be a real shame to lose a promising youngster like Howarth before he really got settled in but he clearly is a talented player so it's no surprise that he's attracting outside interest. However, such is the competition that his place was taken by the fit again Lee Jeffries, himself delighted to be facing his former club. |
| Former City striker Tony Cook has recently rejoined Clevedon for the umpteenth time but was unavailable tonight due to a knee injury. As ever, Steve Lester featured for the Seasiders. The Phil Cool lookalike has had a habit of hurting City in recent seasons but thankfully with age he gets less effective. Interestingly, between the sticks was Peter Trego, a County Cricketer who has had a taste of action with both Somerset and Kent. Considering the size of a cricket ball when fielding, stopping a football must've been childs play for him. |
| The crowd, a family or two short of three hundred was depleted simply thanks to the evil of the Champions League that was broadcast on the television. Even our on/off safety officer quit his post so that he could watch the game. I'm sure he'll be back next week! |
| In their blue and white shirts Clevedon are a walking advert for Tesco so it's only fair that the supermarket giant offer them sponsorship. The carrier bags were evident off the field too with a healthy compliment of supporters in attendance when it was easy to stay at home in front of the tube, although, thank god that the bloody drummer wasn't there! |
| How City weren't one-up after a minute is a mystery. With the Clevedon back four pushed up into a suicidally high postion, two quick passes and a cross field ball from Chris Thompson found Lee Smith on his own with no-one for company. He bore down on Trego but his low shot was well claimed by the useful right hand bat. |
| Adie Harris did his usual trick of teasing a couple of defenders before easily rounding them and crossing for Jimmy Cox, who shot wide. A quick throw in then saw Smith cross to the near post where Andy Hoskins narrowly poked the ball wide of the post and all too close to yours truly. Next, Neil Griffiths came close when his header from a corner only just cleared the crossbar. |
| Smith finally opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute when he exchanged passes with Hoskins before shooting inside the near post from the edge of the area. As good as the goal was it came a minute too early for this Golden Goal purchasing supporter! |
| Lee Smith was having a whale of a time with the freedom he found down the right wing but as Town's ineptitude turned to desperation he found himself subject to more cynical means of opposition. James Zabek, a man whose face looks too big for his head became the first name in the book when he pulled the City winger back after he was beaten by his pace. |
| With almost half an hour gone the Seasiders had their first shot on goal, albeit from almost as far out as the pier at the coastal town. Matt Bath still had to hold it though. |
| Bookings galore next as Clevedon's Tom Jacobs was cautioned for dissent before City Captain Neil Griffiths' mistimed tackle earned him an entry in the referee's notebook. Smith came in for more attention of the unwanted kind as Olly Price crudely ended another run by the City man, the result being another flash of the yellow card. |
| For the second game running Dave Wilkinson got his name on the scoresheet. The midfielder scored a very clever goal which surely must've been conceived on the training ground. After three or four free kicks to the far post, it was a case of as you were with the likes of Jethro, Hosk and Griff all heading for the back stick. Burnsy looked to arrow his set piece towards the big guns but instead offered a deft chip into Wilko who obliged by diverting it under the bar with a looping header that just had the better of Trego's desperate reach. |
| The midfielder came very close to making it two goals in a matter of minutes when he collected a lay off from Jimmy Cox but his shot flew just over the bar. Chances were coming at will now and being wasted with equal disregard. Lee Smith was the main culprit when he shot over from a poor angle with Hosky unmarked in the six yard box, a move which led to the striker rightly bollocking the wing back there and then. |
| Chris Thompson's probing run was ended by another hefty challenge, this time Shane Andrews was the recipient of the caution, although it did have to wait until the ball went out of play after the referee played the advantage. It seemed the the man in black wasn't too keen to punish heavy tackles with second yellow cards as they were being committed with more frequency by the Clevedon players. What a contrast from Saturday! |
| Two-Nil at half time, although it should've been more. |
| Clevedon boss Steve Fey must've thrown tea cups galore during the interval because his team stepped up their game for the opening part of the second forty-five minutes. Maybe it was due to mercenary striker Guissepe Sorbara making way for young winger James Springett or maybe it was because they sensed that City seemed happy to sit on their two-goal cushion. |
| If City started the first half rueing a missed opportunity then Clevedon would've done the same in the second. A cross to the near post found a player unmarked but he shot over with just Matt Bath to beat. |
| One thing that didn't change from the first half was the cynical nature of the Clevedon challenges. Thommo seemed to be the one attracting attention now and he was the victim of a late tackle from former Cinderford and Merthyr midfielder Chris Bale, for which he was rightly booked. |
| Adam Hemming replaced Adie Harris at left wing back with little more than ten minutes of the half gone. Then Dave Wilkinson became the second City player booked when he mis-timed a tackle from behind and took the man instead of the ball. |
| The warning signs had been there and the frailty of City's two goal lead was exposed to the full as Jacobs diverted a Zabek shot underneath the dive of Matt Bath. The pocket of Clevedon fans went wild whilst a murmur of discontent arose from the City fans on the T-End. |
| With City being seemingly overrun in midfield, serial substitutee Wilko was replaced by former Clevedon player Keith Knight. |
| Then it begain to rain, and boy how. I was pilloried for suggesting that it looked like polystyrene rain. But we were dry, unfortunately for him, Trego was just stood there getting soaked. He would complain that in his cricketing days the players would go off and the covers would come on. Shame for him then that it wasn't cricket. |
| City came back into the game more and forced a succession of corners, one of which was headed narrowly wide much to the dismay of the gaffer and all of the T-End. Well, all except his biggest critic Kev who wore a smug grin. |
| City's nerves were settled when substitute Adam Hemming sidefooted a Jimmy Cox pass into the empty net to restore the two goal advantage. Neil Mustoe had played one of his usual overhit precision passes for Cox and only the pace of the City striker prevented it running out for a goal kick. Maybe the Clevedon players were surprised that he kept it in but both defenders and keeper stood and watched as he cut it back for Hemming to net his third (fourth) goal of the season. |
| Trego denied Smith when the wing back sent in a shot which pitched inside the post, but the keeper got his leg in the way. Had it been cricket the Clevedon keeper would've been heading back to the pavilion, leg before wicket but on this occasion he was not out! |
| Hosky should've been given the chance to add to his golden boot claim when Jimmy Cox rode a couple of challenges on the edge of the box before he was unceremoniously dumped to the ground under the watchful eye of the referee. Amazingly he waved play on, but Hosk disagreed and got a caution for his trouble. |
| City's last chance came with another Burns header wide from a corner, this time from the other side. The boss' frustration was there for all to see it missed the target as he's still goalless this season and just six games remain for him to break his duck. |
| A final change for Clevedon followed but it was for nothing as the referee called an end to proceedings as City claimed all three points. With Cirencester's magnificent 8-1 win at the Causeway against Cinderford, both of the challengers from Gloucestershire kept up the pressure on Redditch and retained a faint hope of the title. |
| A win for the Tigers on Saturday at Swindon Supermarine will ensure the clubs participation in next season's reformed Premier Division, but even though we've beaten the Wiltshire side every time we've played, Hunts Copse never seems the easiest place to pick up maximum points. |
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