| So it's now two wins and two defeats as City return from their bank holiday trip to Mangotsfield's Cossham Street ground empty handed. As disappointing as it was to throw away a 2-1 lead, the Tigers can take some comfort in the fact that both of their losses have been by just the one goal. |
| Mangotsfield, a suburb of Bristol, is home to what is becoming one of the DML's least liked clubs. In our 4-1 win at the tail end of last season City fan Tim Lezard was insulted by the club chairman for celebrating a goal, whilst both Dave Adlam and myself were subjected to unwarranted abuse from a home fan and a man purporting to be an FGR fan. This year, they've had a director grab a Bedworth fan by the throat and thrown him out of the ground for shouting encouragement to a player. Then, today on our visit I had to put up with the most obnoxious home fan ever. No wonder the crowds are so poor, I guess the casual fan can't find the time tunnel that you have to go through to get to the ground! |
On the field City finally made the change that the fans seemed to want, Adam Hemming on from the start and Keith Knight on the bench. Now with Adie Harris returning to the fray maybe Knight will find his chances few and far between. Also Will Steadman wasn't selected, maybe his suspension has started although I'm not too sure. Neil Mustoe came in for Burnsy (who was on the bench) and Thommo settled into the centre of defence.
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| At the start of the match there was a long ball forward from City and when Coxy jumped for it he was alleged to have elbowed his opponent to the ground, or so says the bigoted Mango fans that I had the misfortune to be near. What may have been a bad tempered start wasn't helped when Wilko got in a tangle with an opposition midfielder long after the ball had gone. |
| The Mango's had the first meaningful attack when Matt Bath was forced to punch the ball clear. One thing that never changes is the sight (and sound) of ex-City striker Shaun Penny verbally abusing match officials. How he gets away with it I'll never know. He was actually banned for the remainder of the season after a ban last year, so it didn't help that he was sent from the dugout late in the game today. Even Taff walked all of twenty yards to have a bite back at him, good man Taff!!! |
| Jason Drysdale, a player who Newcastle once paid £400,000 to Watford for was being given a torrid time by the pace and trickery of Lee Smith, so he did what he does best, fouled him. Another foot of so and it would've been a penalty, although I doubt that it would've been given because out of four certain looking penalties, we were awarded one, and that was hotly disputed by the home lot. |
City really started to push their hosts and had a succession of corners and half chances. Wilko did well to pressure a defender into giving away a corner, but it was wasted. Another good attack was halted when Tom Webb was harshly penalised for a high challenge. Then Andy Hoskins flicked the ball into Jimmy Cox's path, only for the keeper to nip in and snatch it first.
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| The Mango's really didn't offer too much back at us and the only pressure that we were under seemed to be self inflicted. Neil Mustoe, starting his first game back at City made a poor backpass to Matt Bath. Matt had to race out of his goal to put the ball out for a throw and could've been caught well out of position. Then the referee booked Dave Wilkinson for a foul on Drysdale, I don't normally condone fouling but Drysdale is a horrible opponent so well done Wilko! |
| In a tit for tat move the City fans screamed for a booking after Jimmy Cox was hauled to the floor in a good position, but the yellow card didn't come and the defender just got a talking to. Then came the first of a number of penalty shouts that were turned down. Jimmy Cox tried to turn in the area but was prevented from doing so by an arm around his throat, nothing wrong about that is there! |
| Jack Pitcher, a front runner for Mangotsfield was fouled by Adam Hemming and the ensuing free kick saw a long range shot left to go wide by Bath. Pitcher must be a bit of a cat lover judging by his tortoiseshell hairstyle! |
Then, on 26 minutes, despite City having much of the possesion, the Mango's went and scored. In a move which made the City back three look terrible, two players were unmarked, one of which was Darren Edwards who seemed to make hard work of heading the ball down past the stranded Matt Bath. To be fair to Edwards I was pleased to see him score as he was robbed of a large part of last season by injury and has done well to play again. He'll be one of the top scorers in the league this year, barring injury!
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| As City looked for a way back into the game, Coxy turned provider for Hosk, but the big man was unable to get a touch onto his flick. Wilko also came close with a header before the hosts retaliated with a header just going wide from a corner, however it wouldn't have counted due to a foul on a City player. Then in a swift counter attack Jimmy Cox had three chances to score, the first two were blocked (one by one of his own teammates!) before the third went tamely to the keeper. |
| Just when we thought we'd end the half without reward we were awarded a penalty after Hosky skipped around the keeper only to be dragged to the floor. Why the keeper didn't see red I don't know, yet the ref didn't even talk to him. Hosk slammed the ball home amid claims that the linesman had had his flag raised for offside only to put it down when the penalty was given. The unbelievable home fans AND directors even suggested that Hosky dived over the keeper! |
| At the start of the second half Mangotsfield had a great opportunity to take the lead when former Bristol City striker David Seal sidefooted over the bar when put in by Pitcher. Pitcher caused controversy through no fault of his own when play was held up as City formed an attack as he led injured. Why is it they always stop out attacks like that!!! |
Then came another very good shout for a penalty. Cox sprinted into the box, leaving the defender in his wake and was brought down from behind with not hint of a touch on the ball. Quite why the ref deemed it to not be a foul I don't know, but his position way back towards the halfway line probably had something to do with it. Then Drysdale had another go at Lee Smith after forcing him back up the line, kicking at him all the way. When Lee let the ball go the former pro clattered straight into him. Had Smithy not jumped up and squared up at him Drysdale might've seen red, in this case however, both were booked.
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| Then City took a deserved lead. Good work on the edge of the box by Jimmy Cox saw him tap the ball through legs to Hosky who planted a sidefooted shot into the far corner to spark wild celebrations among the travelling support. As the game was restarted the hapless Drysdale was replaced to prevent him getting himself sent off. Moments later, on another City break Hosk was given a corner instead of a penalty when the defender hacked at his leg. Not a good day for the referee! |
| Then City had a number of chances where they could've and should've put the game beyond Mangotsfield. First Lee Smith put Tom Webb in but he shot wildly over the bar. At the other end a quick break and cross saw Matt Bath make a great save from a point blank shot. Both teams were making chances but crucially theirs were all on target. |
| Jimmy Cox, often criticised for a lack of effort confounded his critics when he chased a hopeful ball and ended up in a real clash with the keeper. Undeterred, he then seized on a poor backpass but delayed his shot before putting it over when a pass across the face would've borne more fruit. At the other end Matt Bath was again pulling off heroics with a wonderful save from a deflected shot. |
Then Tom Webb had another good chance, after being put in by a nicely weighted Lee Smith pass he turned and shot straight into the keepers hands when low and hard would've been better. After 75 minutes inexperience was swapped for experience as Adie Harris came on for Adam Hemming. Then Tom Webb missed another chance as he shot over from Jimmy Cox's pass.
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| As we'd been missing at the bottom end the home team showed us how it was done as Seal shot in off the post to grab an equaliser for the Mango's. Then, after an afternoon of foul language directed towards the officials and anyone else with ears, ex-City 'star' Shaun Penny was ordered from the Mangotsfield dugout. I reckon officials should be able to use Pulp Fiction style ballgags in cases like these! |
| Then on another attack a section of the home crowd roared as they shot across the face of the goal. We though they had scored, we were wrong. So were they! Then Jimmy Cox had his usual set to with a defender. A City match wouldn't be the same without it! |
| Just as we were beginning to make do with a point, it was snatched from us as that man Edwards got on the end of a short pass to flick the ball past the advancing Matt Bath. And added to the fact that Chris Burns had replaced the injured Hosk up front we never looked like getting back into the game. It's fair to say that after 2-1 up, we'd thrown the game away. |
| Still, that fat lady hadn't sung and Adie Harris was full of tricks as he tried to get City back into it. Forced back down the line by their sub, he calmly flicked the ball back over his opponents head and ran away with it. After being made look a total tit in front of the home bench, their player chased Adie and chopped him down. He was booked when he shoudl've seen a straight red card for such an obvious, nasty foul. |
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