Saturday 30 October 2004 - Twerton Park - kick off 3.00pm FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round

After the injury ravaged side that Gary Owers was forced to send out last week at Histon he could at least welcome back several first team players for this match. Jim Rollo and Mike Trought returned in defence, although this was at the expense of the injured Sam Bailey (groin) and Matt Coupe (back). In midfield Bobby Ford overcame his calf injury to replace Darren Hawkins and Alex Sykes was back from Englad Futsal duty on the left hand side. This meant Reinier Moor dropped to the bench where he was joined by Owers after his six weeks on the sidelines. The final change saw loan keeper Steve Perrin make his first appearance in City colours. And he was called into action within two minutes of his debut, saving Gray’s effort from a Harford ball forward. This turned out to a rare worry for City as they began to exert a grip on the game. Williams nearly took advantage of good play by Scott Partridge and Jimmy Benefield on seven minutes. He was denied by a good tackle by Harper and from the resultant corner Steve Jones’ powerful header was cleared off the line by Gray. This escape for the visitors only spared them for six minutes before City took the lead. A sliced clearance dropped to Benefield and his cross was flicked onto Williams, whose low shot gave keeper Dunn no chance. City continued to press with a Sykes overhead shot that flew over from Williams’ knock-down and Benefield’s drive that brought a finger tip save out of Dunn. A rare attack after 24 minutes by the visitors saw Sargent force Perrin into a diving stop. Partridge then nearly took advantage of a slip by Lavender but couldn’t pick out a teammate. This incident saw the Tanners skipper stretchered off forcing player-manager Harford to drop back into defence. City’s failure to increase their advantage nearly allowed Leatherhead to level on 38 minutes. Charles-Smith broke clear but Perrin got his angles right forcing him to shoot past the far post. The half ended with a strong penalty appeal waved away by referee Mr Laver after Williams’ shot was blocked by Harford’s arm and Russell Milton’s goalbound effort deflected wide.

When the second half began with Jones just failing to get on the end of Sykes’ free-kick it looked as if City would continue to control the game but they were soon forced onto the back foot as the Surrey side lifted their game. The first sign that the balance of play was shifting came when a poor pass by Benefield led to a swift attack that ended with Charles-Smith firing narrowly over the bar. The same player, who was beginning to cause City all sorts of trouble with his pace and direct running, was then denied by a great save from Perrin. He then failed to find the target again after another strong run. Too often City’s hurried clearances went straight to opposition players but when they did get the ball down and pass it they threatened to grab the vital second goal. Several times swift breaks caught Leatherhead light on numbers at the back but Williams, Power and Partridge all failed to take advantage of this. Owers brought himself on in the closing quarter for Milton to try to stem the tide but with nine minutes remaining the Tanners came within inches of grabbing a deserved equaliser - Sargent’s low drive beating Perrin only to crash against the post. This was the narrowest escape for City in the remaining time plus five minutes stoppage time, although several goalmouth scrambles had the home fans nervous right to the final whistle. Owers’ reaction when this whistle finally blew was as much relief as joy but City could at last celebrate a place in the 1st Round along with the no small matter of a cheque for £10,000 that came with it.