City started with some zeal as if all were keen to prove their stuffing at the hands of Shepshed was only a blip. Jenks was typically frenetic in midfield and did his best to get Prince away on the left, but on two occasions was frustrated by seeing his passes intercepted. 

New keeper Matt Taylor also got an early chance to impress after Griff was forced to knock a cross out for a corner. Taylor did well to jump through a crowd of players to get a solid fist and punch the ball away for Delves to clear. 

Although Prince and Temple were buzzing away down the left it was down the right that City seemed to be having more joy. Lee Smith beat his marker to put over a cross that narrowly eluded Hoskins and Jenkins, while Hosky also fired a few shots wide from outside the area.

The goal came when the ball was again worked down the right through Griff and Jenks who sent Hoskins away down the right. He muscled past one defender and squared the ball across the box for Lee Smith to knock a low angled finish past Sawyer from six yards. 

City continued to look the better side in the rest of the first half although they failed to really create any further clear cut opportunities. Taylor was again called on to make a good save after Temple lost possession, but the new keeper was alert and smothered at the feet of the Ciren attacker. 

The second half quickly became a very different experience for the City side with Ciren much more lively as they dominated the game. Their forward line was galvanised by a double substitution and before long our defenders were under the sort of pressure that would continue throughout.

Griffiths was booked for baulking one of the forwards runs and Taylor was having to work hard to keep his defence in any shape at all. The runs of Miller, Harris and Godley were causing all sorts of difficulties and both Dunton and Temple were frequently being turned. Delves had looked solid in the first half but was booked for a bad tackle on the edge of the area, perhaps a symptom of his lack of recent match sharpness. 

The equaliser seemed inevitable but when it came it was a little unlucky. Steadman had earlier seen a first half header spin off a divot on the bumpy pitch and this time Nick Delves was caught as a low cross reared up and struck his hand. Having already been cautioned the ref decided it was not deliberate, but none the less Harris smashed his penalty unerringly beyond Taylor. 

City were not entirely without attacking options but under pressure we resorted more and more to long balls and frantic clearances. James Smith came on to bolster the attack but the gap between him and Hoskins and the rest of the side spoke volumes for the rearguard action the Tigers were being forced to fight. 

More and more City were living on their nerves as the ball kept returning despite their clearances. Griff and Steadman were particularly resolute at the back, but they could only do so much as Ciren threatened to overwhelm them. Matt Taylor was required to make many fine stops, including a close range parry followed up by smothering the rebound at the feet of Godley who had the trigger poised. He had to make a further save after almost blundering, giving away possession on the edge of the area but recovering to claw the ball back from the feet of the forward. Ciren's best chance went begging when Carter leapt above the City defenders but he knocked his header wide with City's goal gaping.  

A City victory would have been perhaps unfair, but it almost came. Gloucester had their chances on the break with Prince and James Smith leading the charge. Smith was brought down but the free kick was wasted, while Hoskins almost battered his way through the Ciren defence but lacked sufficient real pace to get through. In the last minute of the game we were denied a penalty for handball when James Smith's cross struck the hand of Harris with Hoskins waiting goalside. 

While the second half was disappointing and the bookings frustrating there was plenty for City fans to take comfort from. Both debutants had good games and the City youngsters will have learnt a lot from surviving the Ciren onslaught and poor refereeing. We showed greater resilience than we did here in the FA Cup or aginst Shepshed, and ultimately an away point against anyone is a reasonable result.