Both keepers were forced into action within the opning exchanges. On six minutes City's defence failed to clear a long throw giving Lester a shooting chance. His lofted effort was well held by Hervin. Three minutes later Jamie Gosling's cross found Collins but his shot was too close to Matthews. The next opening fell to the home side after 26 minutes. Showing that he had lost none of his ability to flatter to deceive a strong run by Allison ended with a poor cross that never looked like picking a teammate out. Hervin was forced into another smart stop moments later before a Gary Thorne header flashed inches wide of the far post with Matthews beaten. The half closed with Skidmore heading a cross straight at Hervin and Drysdale's free-kick flying wide of the right hand post.

A number of corners early in the second half saw City under pressure but they almost broke the deadlock after 53 minutes when Graham MacLean found space in the Clevedon box. However, his close range effort was well blocked by Matthews. The 58th minute saw Hervin deny Allison again but a minute later Clevedon grabbed the decisive goal. Allison broke free of his marker on the left and his low cross was turned home by Bright. Forced now to chase the game City brought on reserve striker Own Bryant for his first start and James Hughes. Before they could have any impact City were lucky not to fall further behind - Price's deflected shot coming back off the crossbar. The closing stages saw Collins, Gosling and Bryant all go close to forcing the game into extra time but they couldn't find a way past Matthews and the Bristol-based side booked their place against Team Bath in the final.