| Today City continued their FA Trophy quest in deepest Northamptonshire at Cecil Street, home of Dr Martens Eastern Division side Rothwell Town. Interestingly our hosts only reached the second round of last years competition, yet we reached the quarter final and were the ones who had to qualify. Something doesn't add up there. |
| Their ground is pretty much the same as any you'd find at this level. Not dissimilar to Moor Green's ground with an old stand, sloping pitch and that 'condemned' look about it. To add character they purchased their floodlights from a local railway marshalling yard and to cater for youngsters there were even some swings, which were used by several City fans (Tony Mills, Phil Warren, Dave Adlam & Taff Compton) who were old enough to know better! |
| With this being a 'serious' cup, Burnsy fielded his strongest team, minus himself. After the game, the Pink Un had said that it was due to him failing a late fitness test on his groin but going on his recent games we thought that he may have dropped himself. He was actually named among the subs with Kenny Howard, Karl Bayliss and Adam Hemming. |
On my last visit to Rothwell, the pitch was muddy and it snowed that day. Today was altogether better as there was grass on the pitch and, well, it wasn't snowing. City had the best of the early exchanges and a first minute corner was easily cleared when a goal might've given the Tigers the impetus to dominate the game. Chris Thompson was called into action in his role as centre half when he blocked a powerful goalbound shot, with his face. It took a while for the ball to go out of play but when it did Adie Tandy administered the much needed magic sponge to our man.
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| City had a flurry of chances then, although failed to really cause too much concern with any of them. Hosk headed over from Jimmy Cox's cross, then Jethro headed wide at a corner, wide of the goal but a little too close to me (and I was taking a photo so I didn't see it). Keith Knight sent a shot over the bar from the edge of the box when a cooler head might've borne fruit. |
| At the other end it was a case of quality instead of quantity as our hosts had a header loop against the crossbar. Our response to that scare was a half chance for Wilko and a Neil Griffiths header wide at a corner but the Bones set City hearts pounding as their man lobbed Matt Bath. Fortunately the ball was cleared by Jethro as it was about to drop into the empty net. |
| Jimmy Cox got himself into a good position in the box before the first of three very good penalty shouts was dismissed out of hand by the referee. It was getting frustrating for City and it was shown by Neil Mustoe as he smacked the ball into the advertising hoardings after a foul was given against him, he was booked, somewhat unsurprisingly! |
Tom Webb was finding lots of room at left wing back and on one of his forays into the Rothwell half found himself unmarked and shot, albeit rather wide but if it was on target it may well have caused the keeper concern. At the bottom of the slope the Northants side showed us how it should be done as they took the lead. Neil Griffiths won a tackle on the corner of the penalty area but the loose ball fell to Cornell Haughton who sent in a wicked shot that Matt Bath in the City goal could get nowhere near to.
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| Although we'd been on top, a goal of that quality mean't that they'd deserved their lead. The only incident of note before the interval was a rather meaty challenge from Jethro which he got away without a caution. |
| With the second half barely five minutes old Webby made way for Adam Hemming, a surprising move considering that he'd done alright and that Wilko had struggled to make an impression on the game. As City searched for a way back into the game Hosk sent over a lovely cross and Knight stooped to head but looked as though he'd totally missed the ball. Any contact and it would've been on target. |
| Having already been booked Muzzie might've done well to curb his temper when shouting at the linesman to "put the f**king flag up" as Rothwell hit City with a counter attack, despite drawing an audible gasp from Noah the referee saw no need to act. Jethro managed to upset a small number of City fans as he kicked their ball into next week when it strayed onto the pitch! |
Attacking down the slope the Tigers had more than their fair share of the game and a Lee Smith cross, met by Hosky's head drew a good save from the home keeper. Next up was a quick break involving Cox and Smith, but Lee's shot ended up wide. After a City corner wasn't cleared properly, Jethro sent a shot back in, it was blocked and the rebound fell nicely to Hosky who sent a weak effort in to equalise. The least that City had deserved.
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| Again Neil Mustoe might've been in hot water as a tackle on the half way line saw our man go in late and the Rothwell player hit the deck screaming, he was caught late and I was surprised not to see another yellow card. It was now pretty much all City as we searched for a winner to prevent a replay. Anything that Rothwell could throw at us was easily mopped up at the back. |
| There were a number of chances, yet there seemed to be a forcefield around the home goal. Keith Knight's cross illuded Wilko, then Hosk could only shoot over from Lee Smith's pass. Lee Jeffries then picked up his customary booking, although no-one was quite clear why as there didn't seem to be any kind of incident preceeding it. |
| Clearly the referee wasn't going to give a penalty to City as Lee Smith was crudely cut down from behind as he tried to control the ball in the area, then moments later Coxy cut in from wide, pushed the ball in front of him and was taken down by the defender. How the referee deemed that it wasn't a foul will always remain a mystery to me. |
| With the game into injury time Hosky might've sown it up with his header but it could only find the keeper and not the back of the net. After being behind I'm happy with a draw, but we'll still have to beat the Bones in a replay to earn the right for a trip to Bath City in the next round. |
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