| What do you think of when you think of Cinderford? Is it EMF? Sheep? Trees? Bears? I usually think of defeat, but after today I'll scrub it from the list. |
| Last year we visited the Causeway on a sunny August Bank Holiday Monday with a terrible goalkeeper in Matt Taylor and Scott Griffin as Cinderford's hotshot striker, this year neither player featured in either line-up so the final scoreline had a more positive feel to it. |
| City were able to field what may have been their strongest team, with older heads Chris Burns and Keith Knight dropping to the bench to make way for Adam Hemming and Chris Thompson. It may have been a gamble to have such a youthful looking side but it paid off as the pace and trickery off Lee Smith, Tom Webb, Jimmy Cox and Hemming saw City play some slick, flowing football on a gluepot of a pitch, not ideal considering that there was a game scheduled forty-eight hours later! |
| Our opponents, in the midst of something of a transition with new boss Phil Mullen at the helm fielded ex-City defenders Lyndon Tompkins and Will Steadman. The is he or isn't he on loan debate with Tompkins might rage on yet he did nothing today to suggest that he's better than what we currently have at Meadow Park. As for Will, what the hell was that on his head? |
| City attacked from the start and the constant forays forward were only broken by the very occasional Cinderford chances, usually involving ex-Kidderminster striker Leroy May. As early as the second minute the Tigers might've had a penalty when Lee Smith was sent crashing to the ground after a heavy challenge by one of the Forest teams' defender, however we'd have been fortunate to get a spot kick for what was little more than a hopeful appeal. |
Just to keep us on our toes, May found himself in space at the far post with just Matt Bath to beat, but he stabbed his shot hopelessly wide as the two hundred or so travelling City fans breathed a sigh of relief. Smith was in action again as he got his head to an Adam Hemming cross at the far post, but his effort flew over the bar.
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| Defender Lee Jeffries then found himself booked after he'd lost possession and felled the Cinderford striker in a desperate attempt to regain the ball. Bath was again called into action as he had to dive low to gather a flick from a corner, a routine save you might think but on a surface as bad as the one at the Causeway today anything could happen. |
| Since having his penalty taking duties relinquished, Neil Mustoe has tried alternative ways of scoring but to no avail. In the fifteenth minute had had his best chance ever as he made good ground to get on the end of a superb cross from Jimmy Cox, but his diving header on the penalty spot glanced wide. Maybe he had that much time that he talked himself out of scoring. |
| More chances came City's way from Adam Hemming crosses. First Lee Smith volleyed wide and then Andy Hoskins slipped as he connected to his cut back, the ball was last seen rolling down Cinderford High Street. Dave Wilkinson should've bagged his tenth goal of an incredible season when played in by Cox but he shot tamely at Andy Fisher in the home side's goal. |
| There were nervy scenes at the Heywood Road end when Bath fumbled a low cross and struggled to retrieve the ball. He did well to block a shot from Darryl Addis before the danger was cleared. |
| What followed was the most obvious penalty incident ever as Lee Smith was chopped down going for a loose ball in the box. Both Smith and the defender had equal distances to get to the ball but the City players' pace saw him there micro seconds ahead of the Cinderford man's lunge. There wasn't one complaint from the opposition, in fact the only noise was an accepting groan, swiftly followed by the cheers of the City fans as Andy Hoskins sent Fisher the wrong way from the spot for his twenty-third goal of the season. |
Lyndon Tompkins then became the second City player to be booked after the on-loan defender pulled down Jimmy Cox!
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| It could've been two in two minutes for City goalscorer Hoskins but his deft sidefooted volley from Lee Smith's cross narrowly cleared the bar with Fisher frantically back peddling. Coxy tried to switch from provider to scorer when his curling shot just whistled wide of the far post but he really ought've passed with at least two other City players in the box. |
| Smith then chased a long ball to the touchline before ending up in the advertising hoardings and coming away with a nasty looking cut on the knee. It didn't seem to bother him though as from the ensuing corner his diving header caused havoc on the six yard line as it was desperatly cleared with Cox and Hoskins ready to pounce. |
| At half time and just one goal to the good, things may have seemed a little disappointing for City considering the chances we'd had but at the interval last year we were already three goals down! |
| Coxy stepped up his pursuit for a goal at the start of the second half when he got on the end of a Tom Webb pass, but in his endeavour to stab the ball home he lost his balance and ending up putting it out for a goal kick. |
| However it wasn't long before he had added to his tally and notched his sixteenth strike of the season. Jimmy was well placed to tap into the empty net after Lee Smith's shot had been pushed onto the post by a defender, great save, shame about the professional foul, but a good advantage by the referee saw the goal stand and City two goals to the good. |
Cinderford may well have gotten back into the game at only one down but just two goals proved to be an insurmountable lead against the poor Foresters. City created chance after chance and at times were found guilty of trying to break the net or walk the ball in when something more basic would've reaped greater reward.
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| Andy Hoskins saw his shot deflected wide, then Coxy was put in again by Webby only to lose control of the ball in the mudbath of the penalty area. Then Hosky easily sidestepped the defender following a nice pass from Cox, but his shot went straight at the keeper. Young Adam Hemming was unlucky when his shot from Wilko's pass just flashed wide of the far post. |
| The home side made their first substitution and for a moment looked as though they might have something up their sleeve. Matt Bath was called into action and did well to push a goalbound header over the bar considering the amount of time he'd spent as a spectator. Following that, the game seemed to get a touch nastier as Cinderford captain Clayton Hook crunched into Smith with a late challenge, he was lucky only to get a lecture from the referee. |
| City made two changes in quick succession as Lee Jeffries was withdrawn following a clash of heads, Marvin Thompson replaced him to leave two Thommo's at the heart of the City defence. That was followed by Lee Smith being replaced by Thompson's counterpart from Cheltenham, Lee Davis. Cinderford also made a second substitution. |
| Tom Webb, still searching for his first goal of the season shot over when well placed before City made their third and final change. The superb Adam Hemming was replaced by Adie Harris, what better place to come back from injury than his old stamping ground. Harris then proceeded to roll back the years as he easily had the beating of two defenders on more than one occasion as he created more chances. |
| Wilko was unlucky to see his effort headed over after he was put in with a cross from Harris. Jimmy Cox and Andy Hoskins then managed to get in each others way on the goal line after Neil Mustoe's goalbound shot was blocked, leaving the ball cleared and the City strikers laughing about their misfortune. It didn't matter though as the final whistle was blown and City had the points. |
| Overall it was a great performance to banish the memories of last August's calamatous defeat. The 2-0 victory was our tenth success of the season and now lift's us up to joint fourth in the league table. |
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