The only change to the City side that won a point at Kettering the previous Saturday saw the return of Williams on the left flank and he went close twice in the opening seven minutes. Two minutes later City suffered their first blow and it was entirely self inflicted. A long ball forward by Down should have been dealt with comfortably by Kemp but his header fell short of Hervin. Powell nipped in and having knocked the ball past Hervin went down under the keepers challenge. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and then kept to the letter of the law by dismissing the City number one. Even though they could name five substitues for this competition there was not a goalkeeper amongst them, forcing striker Foster to don the gloves and his first task was to be beaten by Crook's penalty. To their credit City responded well to this setback and went on to dominate the rest of the first half. Williams went close again after 16 minutes when keeper Coombe saved well from his header before Milsom twice lifted shots over the bar when well-placed. With Williams and Wyatt providing the width and Gosling getting forward well to support the tireless Milsom it was only a matter of time before they equalised, although when they finally did it was from a surprise source. Two minutes before the interval Milsom won a free-kick right on the edge of the Bideford box and Powell stepped to curl an unstoppable shot past Coombe from 20 yards.

Boosted by this City began the second half in similar vein as even with 10 men and a stand in keeper they continued to outclass their lower league opponents. Again it was man-of-the-match Williams who was at the heart of all City's good work, first firing inches wide from a Harvey pass before setting up a chance for Milsom only to see another shot fly high over the bar. The pair combined again on the hour mark but with the same end result. The visitors began to finally shows signs of attacking intent shortly after this miss but found that Foster was a capable stand-in, blocking Parker's close-range shot. With 16 minutes remaining the game took a decisive turn to the Devon side when City were reduced to nine men. Wyatt, who had been harshly booked in the first period when Chapman threw a punch at him following an altercation near the touchline, dived in late on Powell. He could have no complaints about the second caution and suddenly City were up against it, although not before they'd contrived to miss their best opening of the game. Sub Allison ran clear from Powell's pass and rounded Coombe but with the open goal gaping he choose to take an extra touch and the ball ran away from him and was cleared to safety. This miss became even more expensive three minutes later when Foster was finally beaten. Southgate carried the ball forward, holding off Thorne's challenge, before firing a low shot past the stand-in keeper. City now had to throw caution to the wind and two minutes before time where caught again, Harvey turning Southgate's low cross into his own net.