| Who'd be a Gloucester City fan eh? |
| Just when it seemed that things were going our way for a change, and that the team were almost invincible, along came little ol' Evesham to spoil things. |
| The City fans made their way to Common Road in such force that they easily outnumbered the home fans. The attendance of 279 was also added to by the presence of directors and supporters of Redditch United, so I'm sure they'll be pleased with their evenings entertainment. |
| Before the game, City fan Lee Mills handed the proceeds of a collection from the Tigers Fans to injured Evesham striker Lee Ross. It was a superb gesture by the young supporter to help the popular player who will miss next season thanks to a broken back sustained in a recent car crash. |
| City were again weakened by the loss of the suspended Neil Mustoe due to his red card at Team Bath earlier in the month. Thankfully he'll be available again on Saturday and I'm sure he'll be the first name on the teamsheet. |
| Looking at the League table and then looking at the Evesham squad, questions would have to be asked about the motivation of some of the personnel because they are far too good to be occupying a mid-table berth. Full back Andy Smith often gets rave reviews from opposition fans and he didn't dissapoint tonight thanks to his solid show. It was suggested that as the full back and many of the Robins' squad are close friends and colleagues of the Champions elect they'd be more up for this one than ever. |
| Evesham should've taken the lead straight away when their forward found acres of space beyond Adie Harris but drilled a shot narrowly wide of the far post with Matt Bath seemingly beaten. |
| It was in goal where the eyebrows were raised as Manager Dave Busst, he of the broken leg at Old Trafford fame was forced to don the number one shirt due to the late withdrawl of his first choice Tim Clarke. He was only forced into action once (making a great save from Jimmy Cox) before he was replaced by substitute Lee Wilson with twelve minutes gone. |
| I wonder if he is a registered player? |
| A header from an Evesham free kick flew narrowly wide and the home team were making it look easy. This was followed with a long range effort by big striker Jermaine Clarke that didn't really test the City keeper, something that City never seem to do. Clarke was a thorn in City's side all evening, his physical stature with too much of an obstacle for Jethro and the City man often came out second best. |
| City took the lead on seventeen minutes to ease the nerves of fans and players alike. A corner was met by a group of heads and Adam Howarth seemed to come out on top, but his effort was more of a flick on than on target. Jethro was happy for it though as he sent in a rasping half volley to score a goal not dissimilar to the one that he got in pre-season against FGR. |
| A long kick caused confusion at the back for Evesham and Jimmy Cox almost profited but his luck was out as the sub keeper managed to retrieve the ball before the City man could get a shot in. Centre back Inderpaul Khela had his blushes spared by the keeper again as he tried to let a pass run out and Lee Smith nipped in behind him to retrieve the ball, however the City wing back's cross was well cut out with Adie Harris perfectly placed for a shot on goal. |
| The Evesham and Redditch fans appealed for handball as Burnsy stooped to chest a pass but the ref gave nothing, much to the relief of the City supporters. Back at the river end Smith was unlucky again when the defender threw himself in the way of his goalbound shot. |
| Then it was a case of wham, bang, thank you ma'am as the home team scored three quick goals to stun City. |
| A free kick from a needless position was headed in for Craig Pountney to pounce and stab the ball into the back of the Tigers' net. To make things worse Matt Bath then inexplicably let a cross run straight past him and was duly punished with a shot inside the near post for Pountney's second. |
| Just after Reddisham had equalised, Lee Smith cracked a shot against the crossbar. It was the story of our luck versus Eveditch's luck and their third summed up our night. |
| Seeing a goal lead overturned hurt, but the third before the break really twisted the knife, not least because of what it mean't but also the manner in which it was scored. A poor pass from Chris Burns saw Keith Knight dummy the ball to avoid a foul, but with no City shirt behind him it fell for Leon Thomas who took a touch and then rolled the ball forward for Clarke to run onto. Unfortunately for him he'd overhit his pass and Bath got there first to clear, amazingly though his punt ricocheted off of the big Evesham striker and looped back thirty yards and into the goal! |
| Stunned, City struggled to compose themselves and their only other chance of the half came when Lee Smith got onto a Andy Hoskins flick but could only screw his shot well wide of the far post. |
| Burnsys half time team talk would've had to have been inspiring stuff, but it clearly didn't get through to Adam Howarth as he was responsible for the fourth and killer goal. The young centre back was caught in possession on the halfway line and an incisive pass gave Clarke the room to run at Bath and slot the ball inside his near post to compound the Tigers' misery. |
| That was the cue for changes and with in a matter of minutes City had made two changes. Dave Wilkinson, sidelined with a slight knee problem but also in Burns' bad books for playing a Sunday League match replaced the ineffective Knight and Adam Hemming came on for Adie Harris. |
| Andy Hoskins livened up proceedings when he clashed with the stand-in keeper. A long ball bounced to the Wilson and Hosk really had no right to go for it, but he continued his run and as he passed seemed to catch the keeper with a flailing arm. That was the cue for Khela to wade in and shove the City striker around whilst the keeper suffered a delayed reaction and fell to the ground. I fully expected to see a red card for Hosk but it was only yellow, whilst the goalkeeper got off with an Oscar and a bit part in The Bill. |
| The incident only served to wind up the City fans and one in particular returned the ball with such venom that he'd make a bloody good skittler. |
| Nothing was going City's way luck wise and it didn't help that the referee seemed to give Evesham the benefit of the doubt as far as corners or goal kicks went either. Burnsy was riled up by this and could clearly be heard calling the offical a 'homer' over the hush of the subdued crowd. |
| City were attacking but seemed to be running out of ideas as the well organised Evesham back line soaked up all we threw at them. Lee Smith had a chance after a free kick came his way but the keeper made it look easy and Adam Howarth tried to make amends for his rick with a long range effort but it curled out instead of in. |
| On a personal note, midway through the second half I had a close encounter of the what the f**k was that kind. Stood on the side of the pitch, minding my own buisness, I became aware of a man approaching me in the corner of my eye. Obviously referring to , he gleefully announced, "Neil, it's in our hands now" before turning and running away before I had the chance to reply. |
| Weird, but I guess I only have myself to blame for being a mong-magnet. |
| Earlier in the game there seemed to be no link between midfield and attack, but the arrival of Wilko made amends. Striker Karl Bayliss became Burns' last throw of the dice when he replaced Griff and he became part of an aeroplane formation that saw City launch attack after attack. With no luck. |
| Evesham had to act to try and quell the City threat so Pountney was sacrificed for a defender. Bath had to be on his toes as the home team counter attacked but he wasn't called into action as their shot sailed over the bar. |
| City's next attack underlined the kind of luck that they were enduring when a header struck the bar, and Andy Smith was first to the rebound. He couldn't knock it far and Baylo returned it with a looping header that the keeper had to stretch to touch over. The next attack saw another effort from the City legend pushed over the bar as that sinking feeling sunk in. |
| All three sets of fans had set up camp in the only covered standing area behind the bottom goal and aside from the fears that it might 'kick off' there was actually some decent banter flying around. The Redditch fans' chant of "you're just a small town in Cheltenham" was returned with interest with "you're just a shit town in nowhere". |
| It seemed as though every clearance was finding one of their players as the clock ticked down, taking City's title hopes with every tick and tock. Jethro was given some kind of respite when his nemesis Clarke was replaced but it still couldn't help as Evesham seemed able to keep the ball upfield. |
| The referee had already shown his leniency with the Hosky incident and surprised even the most biased of City fans as Wilko was guilty of a nibble, nibble and slash as he tracked his man back to the corner flag. |
| City finally notched their second of the night during injury time when Chris Burns was brought down in the area by sub Leon Canning. It was the kind of foul that doesn't get recognised when there's anything less than a three goal gap so it was always going to be awarded. Being the kind of game where Hosky would miss a penalty, surprisingly he made no mistake and shot under the keeper to claim his 37th goal of the season. |
| The final whistle was greeted with two sets of cheers, adulation for the stand in keeper and resigned acceptance from the City fans. |
| It's not over yet, keep the dream alive! |
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