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Tuesday 19 August 2003 - Twerton Park - kick off 7.45pm Dr Martens Premier Division 
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| half-time: 1-1 | result: W3-1 | attendance: 809 |
| team: | Bryant, Coupe, Trought (c), Hendy, Howarth, Milton (Shore 86), Bennett, Rollo, Tweddle, Salter (Cleverley 64), Williams. subs not used: Bridges, Spring, Jefferies. |
| man of the match: | Steve Tweddle |
| scorers: | Milton (20,85), Tweddle (76) |
| bookings: | none |
| officials: | K Buller (Bridgwater), D Rees (Gloucester), K Barnett (Swindon) |
| league position: 3rd | form: ----dW | next match: Crawley (H) |
Just under a year ago City lost their most influential midfielder in an unfortunate incident during a goal celebration, so it was a sick feeling of deja-vu that greeted the sight of Russell Milton being carried from the field five minutes from the end of this opening home match of the season against Weston Super Mare. Whilst last season City rightly had a target for blame in the infamous 'wall incident' at Chippenham that robbed them of Jamie Gosling for the majority of the 2002-03 campaign, this time the problems were all of their own making. Five minutes remained in the match when ex-Cheltenham midfielder Milton blasted home his second and the third of a trio of stunning City goals. He was immediately besieged by jubilant teammates only to fall awkwardly and sustain the injury. Understandably this put a damper on the win of which Milton was such an integral part.
City’s other star of the night was striker Steve Tweddle. He never stopped running for 90 minutes and capped this performance with a 30-yard wonder goal between Milton’s two equally good strikes. It was fitting that the first chance of the game after nine minutes involved these two players. Milton’s through ball freed Tweddle only for keeper Jones to parry his well-struck shot. This led to a succession of corners that City failed to capitalise on. Weston had produced some neat passing during this opening period but new signing Scott Hendy and Adam Howarth were looking secure at the heart of City’s defence. And after 20 minutes City won a free-kick 25 yards out which Milton stepped up to fire an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net. A low shot by ex-City forward French went narrowly wide five minutes later. On the half hour City handed the Seasiders the softest of equalisers. Sorbara’s weak shot from a Mills cross looked to be of little danger with Milton well-placed to clear. However, he decided to leave the ball for Mark Bryant and to the stunned disbelief of both players it trickled into the corner of the net. This clearly set City back although four minutes before the interval Tweddle almost restored the lead. He left two defenders for dead with a neat turn and struck a shot against the top of the bar.
The second half continued much like the first had ended with the visitors on top. When City did win possession it was too often given straight back to Weston as their distribution from the back was found sadly wanting. Despite this advantage Weston were not creating any clear cut chances and Bryant was not called into making a difficult save. A lot of the credit for this was down to Hendy and Howarth, who were both producing excellent performances. The game appeared to be heading towards a draw until the 75th minute and another piece of Tweddle magic. Bryant’s long clearance picked out the big striker. He out-battled his marker and sent a dipping shot over Jones into the net from a full 30-yards out. Incredibly City managed to produce a third goal to match the quality of the first two with five minutes left. Substitute Dan Cleverley won possession and laid it off to Milton. His run carried him past two defenders before he curled another 20-yard left-foot classic past Jones. Unfortunately what followed overshadowed the goal somewhat.