The T-Ender: City vs Clevedon match report

City fought back to take a point at Clevedon in a match full of drama yet short on quality and conviction from both teams. The City side already looked inexperienced and potentially fragile with a debutant keeper and defender, but matters got worse early on with two key players forced off the pitch following a clash of heads. Having gone behind City could easily have folded, but they continued to battle and had some fortune when a lack of discipline found the home side forced to play more than half the game a man down. Having clinched an equaliser through Ashley Thomas the City side will be a little sore not to have gone on to win the match, but will feel a draw salvaged something from an afternoon that looked like it was all going wrong.

City had the best early sight of goal when a Morford knock down almost got Sykes away, but the game had barely settled when there was a long stoppage after a sickening collision between City's Tom Webb and Michael Noakes. Webb fell to the floor prone and was in obvious distress, Noakes was standing but blood was gushing from a head wound. Webb was carried off and with running repairs on Noakes failing to stem the flow of blood he was soon off too. The pair were both taken away by ambulance to have stitches, it was a further blow to the City side and caused an immediate reshuffle with Sam Ellis and Alex Allard summoned into the fray earlier than we'd have hoped.

Things got worse for the shaken Tigers when a mix-up surrendered possession in the bottom right hand corner, Smith not tracking back and Courtney caught out by the pull back to the edge of the City box. There Clevedon's Mike Green was on hand to send in a fierce low shot that gave Seddon little chance, the ball screaming through a crowd of players and swerving away from the young keeper's stretching hand. Naturally Green would find the net - a few years ago he rejected City overtures to join Cinderford instead. Those players always seem to come back to bite you at some point.

City came close to pulling the game level with a clever short corner pulled back to Lee Smith, whose charge into the box carried him past several defenders before he arrowed a low cross shot into the box. The ball whistled past the stretching legs of Rose and then Bevan, then agonisingly scraped outside the far post too. It seemed we were short on luck but Geriant Bater helped give City a lift with a reckless late diving challenge to trip Lee Smith out on the right touchline. Bater had already picked up a stupid booking for kicking the ball away and his challenge would have been unwise at the best of times, for a player on a yellow card it was plain dumb. You can't imagine he got a very warm reception from his Dad, Phil Bater, the Clevedon boss.

City had another good chance to pull level as Smith was finding plenty of space down the right and Sam Ellis got on the end of a high cross into the box, but poor communication let us down as Allard also looked well set for a shot before his fellow sub ploughed into the goalmouth. Despite the early red card this hadn't been a brutal contest at all, but things suddenly turned ugly as Sykes won possession and threatened to force his way through a defensive roadblock. As he tried to wriggle free he was savagely halted by a flying two footed lunge from Clevedon defender Mike Trought. It was a brutal and dangerous challenge that left Syko clutching his shin and lucky not be ending his career prematurely. The ref was on the blind side of the initial tangle but could have expected better support from his linesman, the ref only issuing a yellow card for a red card offence. On the bright side the ref also couldn't see Matt Rose's angry attempt at summary street justice which would have earned him at least a booking if spotted.

City came out after the break full of intent and within minutes Alex Sykes produced a screaming shot that was swerving into the top right corner until Danny Greaves produced a top notch save to get a fingertip touch to divert it over the bar. That seemed to suggest we meant business but as we pressed forward we were almost caught out by a smart turn and shot from Kyle Bassett, but Seddon took the opportunity to show his agility and made a good low save to his right to keep us in the match. City were making Clevedon work hard to hold their lead and Sam Ellis almost pulled us level, you can see why the City youth team skipper gets goals with his well-timed runs into the area. Unfortunately on this occasion he got under an Allard corner and his header flew high.

Alex Allard still struggles for consistency with his use of set pieces, but when he gets the delivery right they're not far short of perfection. This time his corner flew beyond the massed ranks in the goalmouth and found Lee Smith unmarked at the far post, and his clever cushioned header fell straight into the path of Ashley Thomas. The new centre-half is quickly becoming a talismanic figure for the City faithful and he made his side footed volley into the net from eight yards look simple - his second goal in just four games since joining.

Having gone level City looked to try and go on and get a winner that looked on offer, but we perhaps aren't quite yet a side sure how to go about really turning the screw. Somehow we lost our way just a little and Clevedon battled hard to make things difficult for us. Suddenly less room was on offer and we didn't seem able to either find another gear or an alternative plan. When a long throw was flicked on by Thomas and beat the keeper, but fell just out of reach of Will Morford, you felt it was a chance we couldn't afford to spurn - and so it proved.

T-Ender Match Snaps

Will Morford tries to smuggle his way through early in the game. Tempers erupt after Trought's lunge leaves Syko floored.

A City free kick balloons into the Seasider's wall Allard and Morford try to pick up on a sliced second half clearance

Team Selection:

Tim Harris must have been counting his options on the fingers of one hand last night. Rookie keeper Elliott Seddon came in for his debut in place of the suspended Kevin Sawyer, whilst Jamie Reid also missed out due to a one game ban. A debut was also given in defence to overnight arrival Russell Courtney, but forward Jack Pitcher was ruled out against his former club after a continuation of his groin problem. Bevan and Morford continued up front, but there was some good news with the return of left-back Michael Noakes after he was taken to hospital last weekend with concussion. Clevedon were also missing key players, especially centre-half and captain Rob Scott.

TBBM Said:

"Is Michael Noakes the unluckiest player ever, or does he just like visiting different hospitals?"

Tactics Board:
City had been forced to reshuffle so often in the last few games the players might be forgiven for getting dizzy. Hard to criticise then, but with hindsight our attempt to chase the game against ten men probably didn't come off. With Richards coming on we reverted to 4-4-2 with Lee Smith moving forward. In theory this gave us an extra man in attack, but in practice we lost Smith's extra thrust down the right which wasn't replaced by the less dynamic Richards. Perhaps throwing Rico, Ellis or even Thomas alongside Morford would have been more effective, but these things are easier when you've had hours to think about it...

Anorak Corner:

Matt Rose clocked up his half century of City appearances today. What better place than Clevedon for a former Weston captain to mark his milestone.

T-Ender Verdict

The way this match opened up there would have been a greedy snatching of any offers of a point to the City faithful, a goal down with two players forced off the pitch and two young debutants in a side that was thin on experience. Perhaps its testament to the character the City players showed that by the end it was our fans who were a little disappointed to have to settle for a point. We showed grit and dug in to fight our way back level - and even against ten men that might not have happened a little while ago. We've quietly put together a six game unbeaten run, and we are better. But let's not get carried away. When we had a chance to break down Clevedon and dominate a side we didn't have another gear to find. Another away point isn't a disaster, but unless we start winning at home then its games like this where we have to take our victories.

Highlights Elsewhere:

Hemel go top of the SLP after a gutsy late fightback saw them clinch an impressive 2-1 win at Chippenham, Drew Roberts levelling with just three minutes left and Burgess adding the winner in the final moments. Cheshunt stay bottom but will feel content with sharing six goals at Bromsgrove following the sacking of manager Tom Loizou in the week. Cirencester are also showing ominous signs of improvement, chalking up a 3-2 home win over Tiverton and surviving a comeback from the Devon side who had trailed by three with 15 minutes to play. Former Tigers favourite Jason Welsh made an immediate impact at new club Swindon Supermarine, coming off the bench to mark his debut with the equaliser against Halesowen Town.

The SLP's final representatives in the FA Cup went out today at the first round stage, the not too popular students of Team Bath losing 2-0 at home to Midland Division side Chasetown. An impressive 2067 watched at Twerton Park, hopefully the majority of the crowd went back to the Midlands happy...

Other Match Reports:

Saturday 10 November 2007

British Gas Business Southern League Premier
(match 13)

at The Hand Stadium, Clevedon.

Clevedon Town

1-1

1-1

Gloucester City

T-Ender Match Snaps

Team Selection:

TBBM Said:

Tactics Board:

Anorak Corner:

T-Ender Verdict

Highlights Elsewhere:

Other Match Reports:

Further Reading:

Quick Links

Saturday 10 November 2007

British Gas Business Southern League Premier (match 13)

at The Hand Stadium, Clevedon.

Clevedon Town

1-1

1-1

Gloucester City

T-Ender Match Snaps

Team Selection:

TBBM Said:

Tactics Board:

Anorak Corner:

T-Ender Verdict

Highlights Elsewhere:

Other Match Reports:

Further Reading:

Quick Links

British Gas Business Southern League Premier
(match 13)