| Following a trip to Bedford on the opening day of the season, this afternoon Meadow Park welcomed one of their County neighbours, Dunstable Town. |
| The Creasey Park side started the day at the bottom of the Southern League Premier following defeats against Chippenham Town (0-6) and Histon (1-3), but that means little at this early stage in the season as Manchester United were in a similar position in the Premiership too. |
| City kept the same line up that got a result against Team Bath on Tuesday, but the most important thing was that the game represented the last match of Andy Hoskins' ban. With his strike partner Jimmy Cox easing himself back into first team action and Kenny Stiles returning from Butlins things can only look up for the Tigers lethal strikeforce. |
| Dunstable are one of the handful of sides that we'll meet this season where we'll known nothing of their playing staff. Their line up of Taylor, Walker, Francis, Old, Spring etc told me nothing although I was curious as to why they'd started with a number fourteen and omitted their number ten. |
On a sunny afternoon in Hempsted the game started with the visitors looking to create more as City seemed to take a while to get out of the blocks.
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| With the game little more than five minutes old Dave Wilkinson, who had already been the instigator in one or two lazy, late attempts to win a loose ball was booked following a shove on a Dunstable defender that ended with a theatrical dive to the ground. It conned no-one bar the referee, so unfortunately the yellow card was shown to the City man. |
| Town continued to dominate a lethargic looking City and would've taken a deserved tenth minute lead but for the linesman's flag. Grant Carney scored with a wonderful volley that had Matt Bath well beaten but a shout of offside from Keith Knight was backed up by the assistant referee as there was little to no noise from the away fans to drown out the appeal. |
| Everything was going fine until I was confronted by the recently arrived Shandy Davenport. Sporting a new haircut, I feared that our unbeaten start to the season may be in danger due to the presence of the modern day Jonah, but balls to it, we were destined to win. Shandy or no Shandy! |
| Mike Dunstan, in his capacity as matchday steward had already promised to eject the Cock of the North from the ground if the Bedfordshire side took the lead and when the inevitable happened, Shandy was nowhere to be seen! |
City didn't take the offside goal seriously and were duly punished. A deep cross from Tony Fontanelle and there were men over at the far post as Paris Okai rose highest to direct a header at Bath, but a schoolboy error by the Gloucester number one saw the ball squirm under him and over the line.
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| Dunstable's lead lasted less than five minutes though as City grabbed an undeserved equaliser. A Knight free kick on the halfway line was delivered towards the far post where Neil Griffiths rose and headed back across goal where Wilko arrived from nowhere to thump a volley into the back of the net. |
| The Bedfordshire side must've felt hard done by but didn't rest as they looked for a way back into the game. A free kick from just outside the box was played short and a thirty yard shot just arrowed wide of Matt Bath's far post with the City keeper rooted to the spot. |
| He may have been at fault for the Dunstable goal so it's only fair to credit Bathy with an assist for Tom Webb's first of the season as his punt upfield was headed into Tom's path by a poor defensive header. Webby, although never seeming to have the ball under full control and with a suspicion of handball ran fully forty yards before coolly slotting the ball under the keeper. |
| Neil Mustoe came to City's rescue when he headed the ball off the line following a free kick conceeded by Marvin Thompson under the linesman's gaze. It was a foul that was awarded by a wave of the assistant's flag although it was a shame that the same offical couldn't see under his nose when the ball was carried out seconds before the foul was committed. Inept refereeing could've cost City there. |
Lee Smith had earlier been denied a penalty when he went down under a rash challenge but his namesake Lee Davis had a clearer case when his free run on goal was brought crashing to the ground, but it was more to do with the City man's stature rather than the Dunstable defender's block.
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| It should've been 3-1 to City just before the break when Webb got behind the Dunstable defence and sent in a low cross for Aubrey to tap in at the far post, but given the time and view that he had it was criminal that the on-loan striker got himself into an offside position. In the three games that we've seen of him, he's shown nothing to suggest that he might be a success at this level. |
| As the half drew to a close City were well on top and had two more chances. First Wilko dragged an angled shot wide from the left hand corner of the penalty area, then Keith Knight, on a defence splitting run shot early but wide as he was in danger of being caught by the retreating opponent. |
| City hadn't started the game well and had deservedly gone behind although they'd done enough to warrant being in front at the break. |
| Other than a cross across the face of Matt Bath's goal, Dunstable offered nothing and went further behind at the start of the second half. |
Aubrey was too slow to react to Tom Webb's low cross and the ball went out for a corner. Mustoe swung in the set piece to the near post where it was palmed away by the keeper but Super Marvin Thompson reacted quickest to drill a shot into the back of the net for his first of the campaign.
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| The game degenerated into a series of aerial attacks from Dunstable, which to their credit they posed more of a threat that they were given credit for but ultimately came to nothing. A flurry of substitutions from both teams were interrupted by sporadic attacks from both sides but City didn't really threaten until Jimmy Cox came on for Davis. |
| Of the two chances that came Jimmy's way the keeper touched a cross-shot onto the bar and also got down well to block his shot at the near post. |
| Sorry there isn't too much detail from the second half, but there wasn't really too much to write home about as the Tigers completed an all too easy victory. |
| The win moved us up to fourth place, equal on points with top spot although with an inferior goal difference. Chippenham, Cirencester and Tuesday night's opponents Chesham United sit above us. Whilst it's still early days, it's nice to know that we can remain unbeaten and be at the top of the pile whilst not playing to our full potential. |
| The biggest disappointment today though was the crowd of 341, twelve less than the Team Bath game. It can't be blamed on the lack of away fans though because there were probably as many Dunstable fans at Meadow Park as there were Bath fans in midweek, however, it was a glorious afternoon compared to the rainswept evening when the students visited. What does it take for the people of Gloucester to support their football team? |
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| Tiger Roar Man of the Match - Marvin Thompson |
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Marvin Thompson
Star Man |
Another Star Man performance from the young defender with a great show on the left side of a three man defence plus his first goal of the new season. Much more of this and he'll need a contract!
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