| What a strange game this was from my point of view. On the face of it a five goal thriller that was almost turned on it's head and a winning goal from a sixteen year old youth player would be enough to write about but for the presence of one player and the effects that he had on different fans. |
| Jason 'Judas' E***n, almost a decade and a half ago the darling of the T-End and the finishing touch of a very good team eventually found himself the last of the big names at Meadow Park as other stars left because of the promised pounds that the club could not fulfil. |
| Playing in a side with raw talent he brought the best out of new striker Karl Bayliss and things weren't looking too bad for the Tigers until E***n decided that he wanted to join up with one of his ex-coaches Lyndsay Parsons at bitter rivals Cheltenham Town. |
| It was an obvious disappointment for the City fans and a bitter pill to swallow but the striker was rumoured to fire a parting shot with anti-City comments in the local press. To makes matters worse he was the catalyst that turned a relegated team into something special as City stuttered and the Robins reached new heights. |
| When the scummers moved into the Football League E***n didn't and moved to Huish Park where he became a £15,000 flop. A list of clubs including Newport County, Forest Green Rovers, Merthyr Tydfil (on loan), Basingstoke Town, Bath City, Merthyr Tydfil and Brislington (loan) followed. Whenever he faced the Tigers he was singled out for special attention by the City fans. |
| If there was one player we thought we'd never see in a Tigers' shirt again it was E***n. Then Chris Burns made the biggest gamble of his managerial career so far by bringing him back to Meadow Park, a move which caused some fans to question his future. |
| That's all that you'll read about E***n from now, unless it's bad, then you'll read about it in spades. |
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| Todays visitors hail from a place where the train out of town calls at just one station and then comes back. Back in August we'd managed to throw away a two goal lead at Chesham as the second half grew older. Today would be a great opportunity to turn the table on the third placed Cockney's. |
Lyndon Tompkins had failed a pre-match fitness test following his injury at Tiverton and despite having a shocker in midweek, the small squad size mean't that Chris Burns replaced him at centre-half. Youth teamer Micheal Noakes was called up at the eleventh hour to sit on the bench.
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| Again Jimmy Cox was left on the bench, not in favour of Lee Davis, but to the annoyance of some City supporters, the fans favourite made way for E***n. |
| There were one or two notable changes to the Chesham line-up from the one that had turned defeat on it's head in the early season encounter. Tigers legend Andy Adebowale wasn't named in the starting eleven (or on the bench) and goalkeeper Bradley Hughes, to use the term loosely was now a substitute with new stopper Jamie Jackson claiming the gloves. |
| The conditions didn't really lend themselves to the middle of a Saturday afternoon as the game kicked off in dark, gloomy skies. It didn't help the players either as both sets failed to impose themselves on the early exchanges other than an attempted lob by Neil Mustoe that had the Chesham keeper scrambling back to cover his goal. |
| Matt Bath had to do his bit from the Generals' first corner when he stretched to keep a header out. Dave Wilkinson did better though when his header found the net but the linesman raised his flag to silence the City cheers. |
| Andre Scarlett, a constant threat when we played away from home was withdrawn and replaced by Joey Deacon. |
| Wilko was denied again as a lovely curling cross from Keith Knight was headed goalwards by City's leading scorer only to be cleared off the line by a defender. There was action at the other end too which might've ended in a goal when John Richardson headed just wide for United. |
| Lee Smith almost scored a bizarre goal for City when he guessed right to charge down a keepers clearance, but with our luck the ball flew the wrong side of the post. If it was the opposition it would've gone in! |
| Deacon dashed clear behind the City defence but was denied glory thanks to Bath who rushed off his line to close the angle and beat the ball away. |
However, the first goal came for City from an unlikely source when Daryl Addis sent in a delightful cross to the far post where two City men were waiting, but Simon Sweeney got his head to the ball first to momentarily flick away the danger. Still not cleared, it fell for Wilko out wide and the midfielder whipped in a cross that was met by a strong Neil Mustoe run and header which the keeper got a hand to but couldn't keep out.
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| That was Neil Mustoe at his attacking best and the recent criticism that he's taken wouldn't happen if he got into the box more often. |
| Keith Knight was next up to try his luck when he struck a shot from the edge of the area but was unlucky to see his effort hit the bar and go over. |
| The goal that we've been waiting for came just before the break when Addis picked up a pass from midfield, drew the keeper off his line and from a diagonal angle slid the the ball underneath the Chesham number one to score. That was a richly deserved and well received goal. |
| Two goals up against Chesham, that sounded familiar, although this time we'd peaked before half time and the second period was set to follow the same course as we'd taken in the away fixture. |
| It was all Chesham as City were caught in a complacent mood and a couple of shots just cleared Matt Bath's crossbar. The City keeper went on to make a brave save at the feet of a United striker although it looked as though the forward's attempt was a little too overzealous as Bath got hurt. |
| John Lawford, the man whose two penalties won the first game for the Generals replaced John Richardson as they made their second change. |
| Just like the original game, substitutions were a major factor as within a minute they'd pulled a goal back. A cross from the left wing was met by the stooping Steve Sinclair as he headed Chesham back into the game. |
| Rocked onto their heels by the goal City tried to find a way back into the game. A ball down the right found Lee Smith and the Tiger Roar sponsored player did his backers proud by totally ignoring E***n in the middle and going for glory himself. Unfortunately the keeper played the role of party pooper and turn his shot over the bar. |
Youth team boss Kenny Blackburn who runs things from the bench while Knighter and Burnsy are on the pitch sent on Micheal Noakes, one of his proteges. Little did we know that he was getting ready to write the headlines.
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Micheal Noakes celebrates his goal - courtesy of the Citizen
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| With the original game where we surrendered a two goal lead to lose 2-3 we tried to emulate it by letting Chesham equalise. A corner wasn't cleared and skipper Peter Clifford forced the ball over the line at the far post. |
| Addis was having a superb game, almost playing on his own upfront with the useless E***n and was given a lifeline when the unpopular striker was finally withdrawn and replaced by Jimmy Cox. |
| The comeback was almost complete when Lawford found room and went round Bath only to go crashing to the ground. From where I was sat it looked a penalty, but fortunately the referee had a different view and penalised the striker as well as booking him for diving. |
| It seemed as though there was only going to be one winner now and that the Chesham boys would be ringing their victory Bow Bells and grinning through the Eastenders Omnibus. The goal they needed almost came when a free kick from out on the wing was deflected goalwards with Bath rooted to the spot, but the ball flew just the wrong side of the post. |
| Now with two strikers City looked like they might even score and Coxy came close after he found room on the right hand side, but it was the youngster Noakes who was to prove to be the hero of the hour. |
| Roy of the Rovers, Billy's Boots, you name it and it happened as Noakes found himself free on the left hand side. In an alarming amount of space he took Mustoe's perfect pass and the Lee Burby lookalike bore down on goal and planted a shot beyond the reach of the Chesham keeper to score a goal that he'll never forget. |
| The sixteen year old was mobbed by all of the City players! |
| Chesham almost stole a point at the final whistle when they forced the ball in but we were saved by an offside flag from the linesman. We were lucky there though as it seemed to be a City player that headed the ball forwards. |
| Lee Smith had a chance to seal the win when played in by Jimmy Cox but after delaying for far too long and not givng the ball back to Cox his shot was charged down and the chance was gone. It didn't matter though because the ref blew the final whistle to signal a City victory. |
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| Tiger Roar Man of the Match - Neil Mustoe |
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Neil Mustoe
Star Man |
On an awful day weather wise Neil was in his element. He has come in for criticism lately but has come out of it in a positive manner and is much better for it. He broke the deadlock with a superb headed goal as the game approached half time with a supern run to meet a well paced cross from Daryl Addis.
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