City put the record
straight as the rightful pecking order of Gloucestershire
football was re-asserted at The Lawn. The Nailsworth
outfit showed that the dizzy heights of the Conference
are not beyond Gloucester as the Tigers showed enough
grit to come away with a well earnt 4-2 extra time
victory. Traditionally sides treat County Cup matches
lightly, but there was little sign of this as Gregan
picked nearly a full strength side. Hughes meanwhile
rested several players carrying knocks: Hemmings, both
Thorne brothers and Wyatt all missed the match.
City started the
game confidently, presumably relishing a local match that
was also away, where their recent form has been top
notch. The early pressure came through Mings who was
causing Rovers all sorts of difficulties, and he should
perhaps of done better with a scuffed effort after
Mainwaring had sent over an inviting low cross. Mings was
then pushed from the ball, giving Burns the chance to put
over a free kick which Kemp headed just over.
Rovers seemed to be
forced into playing the ball long, probably habits learnt
from necessity due to the dreadful state of the pitch.
One of these long balls almost sent Mehew through, but
Niblett was quick in providing cover. City were torturing
Rovers on the right flank, with Holloway, Burns and Webb
all working hard. It was down this wing where Mainwaring
took down a lofted cross field ball from Fergie, and then
out muscled Coupe to turn and send a low shot past the
statuesque Shuttlewood.
Mainwaring's
confidence visibly grew with his first goal in a month,
and he almost grabbed a second minutes later when his
acrobatic overhead kick almost converted a Mings cross.
The game then took an ugly turn as the referee missed a
couple of over the top challenges from both sides. Things
came to a head when Holloway was clattered, with
Mainwaring still down holding his head from a hefty challenge moments earlier. Holloway was lucky to escape
with a booking after he retaliated with a nicely executed
right hook to the culprit's jaw. The general scuffle was
only diffused by Callinan, presumably the surroundings
triggering paternal memories from his assistant manager's
days.
The second half looked like coming to the
boil early on when Shuttlewood proved to slow and fat to
drop his trailing leg away from Mainwaring's leg. Some
how the over-rated fat boy avoided any official
retribution, and even got the ball back in a show of
sportsmanship which would have made even Arsene Wenger
sniffle. Rovers then grabbed a stunning equaliser when
Alex Sykes smacked in a 25 yard free kick, which caught
Mountain unsighted. City then looked vulnerable as only
woeful Forest Green finishing saw the Tiger's defence
remain intact. As the minutes ticked by City pushed
forward, with both Mings and Mainwaring going close.
However City got caught by a classic counter attack, and
Sykes avoided a marginal offside decision to put Rovers
ahead.
Wilkes then crowned
a poor performance by giving City a controversial
penalty. Clever passing triangles between Burns, Fergie
and Tucker put in Mings on the left hand side of the box.
He pushed the ball ahead, and then took advantage of a
rash Rovers leg to tumble over for a questionable spot
kick. Holloway made no mistake, and gave City an
equaliser they deserved on balance of play, although not
for the foul.
Extra time
prolonged the cold for the disappointingly low crowd.
Hughes took advantage of the chance to blood two
debutants, both Jamie Smith and Steve Jenkins having
starred for Burns' successful youth team. Jenkins
persistence helped rattle the Rovers defence, and
Shuttlewood fluffed a hasty clearance straight into the
patch of Mainwaring. His pass then caught Forest Green
sleeping, and Mings tapped in at the far post.
The second half of
extra time saw Mings replacement Jamie Smith cause all
sorts of problems for City against tiring legs. His pace
saw him set up Mainwaring for one chance, before another
Burns slide rule pass set him through on goal. The
hapless Hedges tripped him up for another penalty, this
time as undisputable as Holloway's second spot kick was
unstoppable. City's victory sets up a mouth watering
final against the old enemy, Ch@#tenham Town, although it
has to be hoped it won't just be an opportunity for their unbearably smug new supporters to flaunt a place in the
League.
Mountain
