| What is it about midweek trips to Bumpkinland and City's ability to ship five goals at a time? In January at Taunton the Tigers let in five without reply and tonight their Wurzel neighbours Tiverton did the same. The only difference was that it wasn't lashing down and we got three goals to cheer. |
| Just like hockey, it was a game of three (unequal) halves, and just like hockey Tiverton won by a couple of odd goals in eight. |
| The first half was a non-event for City, even Tivvy weren't tip top although they came out of it two goals to the good. The opening twenty minutes of the second were great from a Tigers attacking perspective but bloody awful at the back. Yet once scumboy Eaton came off the bench to replace Lee Davis the referee might as well have blew up for full time because the points were Tiverton's from then on in. |
| The only change from the the starting line-up for City was Davis in the side for Chris Burns, although the reason why and the position that the youngster played was a mystery. On the bench was Jason Eaton, the star striker who defected to Cheltenham while we were at a low ebb, now signed on loan from Merthr Tydfil and the sooner he goes back, the better. |
| We'd played Tiverton just two weeks earlier, so the number of changes to their side was quite a surprise. Ex-Forest Green winger Steve Winter came in at right back whilst former Tiger Paul Milsom started up front in what looked like a three pronged attack alongside Kezie Ibe and Jamie Mudge. |
| If it was an experimental attacking formation from the Devon bunch then the final scoreline would suggest that it was a success. |
| Tiverton play their home games on Wednesdays, maybe something that usually pays off for them but tonight it clashed with the Spain v's England match on TV and it showed with a lower than average crowd and travelling City support of twenty-four. That was confirmed by the two Tivvy fans who took their shoes and socks off to count us. |
| Following the pleasantly easy rush hour trip via Bristol, hungry City fans might've been disappointed following their visit to the tea bar as everything either contained carrots or had a carrot theme. I guess it's a case of when in Rome, crunch like the Romans do. |
| After the influx of OAP's from Tiverton at Meadow Park we tried our hardest to bring the average age of the crowd down but there were that many coffin dodgers in the ground that we had little effect. The club realise that the over maturity of their fans is a problem and have even taken steps to rectify it by offering concessions to under thirties instead of teenagers! |
| Tivvy had been knocked out of the FA Cup four days earlier and we hoped that they might be hungover from their exploits. Jimmy Cox had a chance to give City an early lead to test this theory but he couldn't stretch far enough to get a touch to Daryl Addis' searching lob. |
| Despite having the best of the opening ten minutes or so but not really testing the impressive Mark Ovendale in the Tiverton goal City found themselves a goal down. The home side attacked with plenty of bodies in the box and a rash challenge by a City defender saw the referee point to the spot. Winter struck in autumn and it was one-nil. |
| To their credit the Devon team looked very sharp and were very quick to close down the City players when they got the ball. Lee Smith had had two attempts at goal blocked just after they'd left his boot and it was this tenacity that led to a second goal in three minutes for the home team. |
| Whether there was uncertainty in the Tigers defence or not isn't clear but Kezie 'all hands' Ibe did well to charge down a pass between two defenders and Jamie Mudge exploited a very high defensive line to sprint clear and slot the ball through Matt Bath's legs. Watching that was sickening. |
| Never sure how to react to such a blow, City attacked but were still vulnerable. A shot from Addis bent away from the far post as it travelled goalwards yet when we got a corner it seemed that we were not only trying to fight our way back into the game but also trying to avoid the attention of the thug like Nathan Rudge at the back. |
| It wasn't only the players that were getting stick from their counterparts, the City fans had to put up with the wit of the Toothless Taliban, a troup of pensioners who were too frail to walk to the other end of the pitch. |
| Dave Wilkinson picks up bookings as often as he scores goals, but why he saw yellow when he jumped for a high ball is a mystery to me, especially considering that Milsom elbowed Neil Griffiths and got away with a lecture. |
| Wilko had grounds for complaint less than a minute after his caution when he was denied the opportunity to take a quick free kick when an opponent deliberately walked across the ball. The City man took the kick against the Tiverton player and the referee spoke to the player. That's Wilko, the City player, not the Tiverton man who obstructed the free kick. Can someone please explain this one to me! |
| Eventually one of the yellows was booked (we were wearing white) when Lee Davis was sent flying, although Mike Booth, the recipient of the card must've felt hard done by as it really wasn't much of a foul. The ensuing free kick found it's way out to Lee Smith who shot over the crossbar. |
| There were no other chances although Jimmy Cox was carded for catching the Tiverton Ogre with a double ankle tap. |
| It was a poor first half, for both teams, although there were no complaints about the scoreline. Chris Burns and Keith Knight had their work cut out during the break trying to motivate their team back into the game. |
| Whatever the City management said must've worked as within three miutes of the restart we'd pulled one back, although that wasn't before a sidefooted shot from just outside the area had whistled over Matt Bath's bar. |
| The Tigers were looking quite dangerous as they attacked and Ovendale could only punch Lee Smith's nippy cross out to Neil Mustoe on the edge of the box. The City Captain controlled the ball before driving in a shot that was going wide only to hit Wilko and the ball fell kindly for Addis to lob to Lee Davis who hit a half volley into the ground and spun the ball into the far corner. We were delighted. |
| Ibe, subject to a £4000 bid from City recently according to one of the old bastards behind the goal used his cuddling technique to win a free kick and Bathy did well to tip a superbly driven shot onto the bar. |
| Lyndon must've been hurt because he was replaced at the back by Burnsy. |
| Amazingly City got an equaliser when Tom Webb made room in the left corner and whipped in a cross just below head height behind the the line of players in the box. The ball deflected off the shoulder of a defender and sat up for Wilko, with his back to goal to lift it up, over the keeper and calmly drop into the net. Only the small number of people present can appreciate what a superbly worked goal it was. |
| We might've been attacking like kings but we were defending like paupers and within a minute of the restart Paul Milsom seized upon a goalmouth scramble to tap in Tiverton's third. |
| However, City and Wilko weren't quite finished and a pass from Smith found Coxy in the area who held the ball up and slid it in for Wilkinson to slam home his second of the game and eighth of the season. |
| I can't take the credit for the comeback but I did appeal to Ovendale to go easy on us and let us back into it. We didn't realise that his reply of "Don't worry we will" would come true inside fifteen minutes. |
| During the second half, City fan Joe Green exchanged pleasantries with the infamous 'Man with the dog' who was refused entry to Meadow Park a fortnight earlier. Despite claiming that Paul Milsom had played for Liverpool, he seemed alright and felt sorry that he'd been the victim of a steward who only picks on kids and animals! |
| That was our lot though and it was downhill from there as within five minutes Milsom had tapped in his second and Tiverton's fourth. We had Matt Bath to thank for denying Ibe when he broke through but to make matters worse City virtually surrendered when Lee Davis was taken off. |
| My loyalty to Gloucester City FC was severely tested thanks to the introduction of the hated Eaton. Never during my fifteen years of supporting the Tigers have I not wanted a City player to do well, but tonight was different. Davis may have had little physical effect, but in my eyes his withdrawl had seen us go down to ten men. |
| Tivvy were still going for it and our defense couldn't cope. A weak back header saw Bath stranded in no mans land and the ball with Milsom, fortunately his lob from an acute angle found the side netting. |
| Another poor defensive header saw the ball with Ibe and somehow he failed to score into what looked like an empty net, although our view was impaired from the other end of the pitch. |
| Our defence were leading a charmed life and it was only a matter of time before our luck gave way. Chris Burns tried to see the ball out for a goal kick, my pet hate. As he was shepherding the ball out he went down under Jamie Mudge's challenge to get the ball, the referee was probably right not to award a free kick to City and Mudge completed the ultimate punishment by belting the ball into the net to restore their two goal advantage. |
| We saw an annoying contrast between what does and doesn't warrant a yellow card when Chris Thompson was booked for punting the ball away in frustration. A minute or so earlier Ibe had been penalised on the edge of the box, yet had continued after the whistle and shot at goal. Why was there no booking for Ibe? |
| City's Man of the match Dave Wilkinson was replaced by Keith Knight but it was pointless as the game was over as a contest. We didn't stop trying though and Lee Smith was unlucky to see his effort from the aftermath of a corner deflected over. |
| Another yellow card for a Tiverton player, this time Winter, although it looked as though Booth was the man in trouble for what would've been his second yellow. Substitute Knight headed a Tom Webb cross into the keeper's hands before ex-City man Milsom was replaced by Tom Stocco. |
| Having had little effect, Eaton found space and ran in on goal but was easily caught by the defender before he tripped over his own feet. I'm sure thats as good as we'll get from a striker who has notched an incredible three goals in twenty-one games for the Welsh side so far this year. |
| No chance of a penalty from City (not that I wanted to see one from that source) but Tiverton were awarded their second of the night when Burns tripped Ibe following a superb point blank save from Matt Bath. The City boss had had a nightmare since he came on and could've easily been sent off for denying the Tiverton striker a goalscoring opportunity. |
| Thank God that Bath was the only one defending as he flew to his right to block the spot kick and deny Winter the chance to become the third Tivvy player to bag a brace. |
| It was the last act for the wing back as he was replaced by Shaun Goff. His former FGR teammate Rob Cousins went face to face with Neil Griffiths following a corner to add weight to the suggestion that the Devon side are one or the nastiest in the league. Cousins was skating on thin ice. |
| There could've been a third penalty when Lee Smith skipped between two defenders and despite both Tivvy players making a connection the City man stayed on his feet. He recovered to hammer in a cross but the hopeless Eaton was in no position to tap the ball in as it went loose in the box. |
| Game over. From a City point of view it was an awful first half, a great start to the second half and then Eaton came on for Tiverton. |
| If we keep losing we'll go down. |
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| Tiger Roar Man of the Match - Dave Wilkinson |
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Dave Wilkinson
Star Man |
No-one stood out in the first half so it was Wilko's two goal salvo that brought the Tigers level (for a second time) that really caught the eye. A special mention goes to Matt Bath who saved a penalty as well as several shots on target.
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