Some exceptional first half long range finishing
from Alex Sykes was enough
to help City to a solid 3-1 victory over Clevedon to mark the
close of the season in warm Spring sunshine. The weather was good
enough to leave even the most committed looking forward to spending
some time in the sun, but in this performance there were glimpses
to also suggest City fans could have reason to look forward to
the next campaign with some optimism. Clevedon showed plenty of
attacking running to suggest they should have done better this
season, but City managed the threat well in midfield and by the
end of the game finished strongly.
City's plans were disrupted early on with Marc
Richards getting an early ticket after coming off worse in
a clash of heads with Clevedon's Romhdane. Wilko came on for him,
Clevedon taking advantage of any confusion with Luke Buttery doing
well to charge down a dangerous looking Jack Pitcher cross. City
managed to regain control and then took the lead with another
wonder goal from Alex Sykes.
Nothing seemed to be on when Wilko touched on a Reid throw-in,
but from 25 yards out Syko turned and produced an inch perfect
lob that dropped over stranded keeper Danny Greaves and just under
the bar.
Clevedon had every right to feel a bit hard done
by as they made City creak in midfield, realising they couldn't
out pass Wilko and Mustoe they quickly started running from deep
with Pitcher seeing a good run and shot stopped only by a solid
block from Hamblin. The visitors forwards were both impressive
and Pitcher looked to have added another to his tally when he
latched onto a low ball and rounded former Clevedon keeper Ray
Johnston, but Razor was relieved to see Buttery nip behind
him to clear the goalbound shot for a corner.
Despite exerting little pressure on the Clevedon
goal City managed to extend their lead before the break, and again
it was the sharpness of Alex
Sykes that did the business. Webb's short corner work found
Sykes in space and despite being more than 30 yards out Syko unerringly
clipped a perfect drive into the top corner of the net. It's quite
possibly the first time City have ever scored from the dreaded
short corner, and judging by the congratulations for coach Boris
Mehew it might just have been a little something worked on in
training.
Clevedon looked set to make a game of it when they
pulled one back soon after the break. We'd looked a little more
solid defensively but this goal looked all too much like a host
of others we've let in over the season. Pitcher was given far
too much room down our left and having got clear of the defensive
line he had time to produce an inch perfect cross to the back-post
where sub Mitchell Page had plenty of room to head into the net.
City didn't look too flustered for once though and
simply wrested back control of the midfield and went about putting
together the kind of attacking football we'd never quite produced
in the first half. A clever interchange of passing by Sykes found
recent sub Griffin dropping deep in front of the defence. His
crisp first time shot almost caught Clevedon off guard but their
keeper did well to back pedal and produce a finger tip save. Another
raking cross field ball from Sykes found Jimmy
Cox running at full tilt and the ref was very lenient not
to give a penalty for a trip by Danny Haines who seemed to have
been simply out paced by Cox. Defenders didn't even get close
to Cox on his next run and his cross from the by-line seemed to
have been met perfectly with a neat header by Griffin, but the
keeper did well to reach out and grab it off the line.
City finally claimed the goal that our earlier attacking
play had deserved when a Sykes corner wasn't properly cleared
and was returned to the winger on the right flank, from where
he swung in other tricky cross. It evaded defenders and forwards
alike at the near post, but was allowed to bounce in the goalmouth,
enabling Jason Welsh to swivel
and smash the ball into the net from close range. That also neatly
levelled up the private tussle between Welsh and Syko for the
City golden boot - both ending the season on 13 goals.
Bookings:
Dismissals:
none
T-Ender City MotM: 
