Tuesday 8 March 2005 - Twerton Park - kick off 7.45pm Southern League Premier Division

Graeme Power returned to the side after missing the Halesowen game due to suspension, replacing Alex Sykes who was away on England Futsal duty, but Steve Jones failed a late fitness test, Jimmy Benefield missed the game due to illness and Matt Coupe had to settle for a place on the bench. With the game just seven minutes old Darren Hawkins had to limp from the action to be replaced by Gary Owers, who wasn’t 100% fit himself. However, within two minutes his arrival led to the opening goal. Paul flicked on a pass from Russell Milton to the player-manager and he went to ground under a challenge from Sturgess. There looked to be little in the incident but the referee pointed straight to the spot and Partridge sent Ziccardi the wrong way from the penalty kick. This lucky break then set up City’s best spell of the game, with Holland heading a Milton free-kick narrowly wide moments later. On 18 minutes City should have doubled their lead when Power picked out an unmarked Paul only for the striker to head over the bar from just eight yards out. This was a close as City would come for a long time as the Lincolnshire side began to see the majority of the play without ever really looking like finding an equaliser. The closest they came was midway through the half when White met a Sturgess cross but couldn’t keep his volley on target. One surging run from John Williams did briefly threaten to increase City’s lead and several times they did get into promising positions only for the final pass or cross to let them down.

The second half saw the game settle into a fairly turgid pattern with the visitors failing to turn their possession into goalscoring openings and City time and again gifting the ball back to them. In fact, City passing was as woeful as at any time this season and Ziccardi was increasingly a spectator in the Grantham goal. Just after the hour mark City lost their second player to injury, Williams limping off to be replaced by in-demand England Under-18 schoolboys captain Yan Klukowski. He was immediately in the action producing a timely intervention to deny Weale a clear shot on goal. Although continually put under pressure by their teammates failure to hold onto possession, City’s back four were standing up strongly to the pressure and only a mis-directed Turner shot and Gould’s header straight at Evans gave them nervous moments. However, with just a slender lead the victory was still there to lose going into stoppage time before City created a chance and with it scored the decisive second goal. Paul collected Partridge’s pass on the corner of the six-yard box, turned Gould and fired in a low shot that went under Ziccardi. The win lifted City to 9th position, their highest since back in October, and keeps their slender play-off hopes alive.