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Tuesday 3 August 2004 - Lodge Road - kick off 7.30pm Friendly 
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| half-time: 0-1 | result: L0-1 | attendance: n/a |
| team: | Shuttlewood, Rollo (Trought 45), Power (Lamafield 45), Coupe (Monelle 65), Jones, Ford (c), Benefield (Klukowski 80), Owers, Tweddle, Williams (Hulbert 65), Stevens. subs not used: Puddy, Brigham, D Bailey, Selassi. |
| man of the match: | Jimmy Benefield |
| scorers: | none |
| bookings: | none |
| officials: | not known |
| league position: n/a | form: dLLWLL | next match: Forest Green (H) |
City’s penultimate summer run out was yet another frustrating exercise as for the sixth time in seven attempts they failed to score, which allowed Southern League Division 1 West side Yate Town to win the game with a single strike on the stroke of half-time. In their previous defeat against lower league opposition, Frome Town a fortnight earlier, City at least had the excuse of fielding an understrength side. This time, though, there was no easy explanation for such a lifeless display. Only Russell Milton and Mike Trought was missing from City’s probable first XI but still after a promising opening 15 minutes they faded away and rarely looked capable of turning around their poor pre-season form.
This bright start saw a Dean Stevens shot force a good save out of Yate’s keeper and then from a corner Matt Coupe’s header was cleared off the line. However, this was about a good as it got for City and the rest of the half was an instantly forgettable scrappy affair. The only two people on the pitch who were getting remotely excited were the referee and former City midfielder Paul Chenoweth. On several occasions the latter got involved in unnecessary shoving matches with City players, showing that even in the twilight of his career Chenoweth is still a niggly little player. Ironically the referee did nothing about this behaviour but still managed to be incredibly fussy about every minor infringement. What little flow the game did have was stopped by the man in black, although to be fair he wasn’t helped by the home players throwing themselves to the ground at any opportunity. It was fitting one such dive led to the game’s only goal in first half stoppage time. Justin Shuttlewood had already claimed a similar effort from another ex-City player Dave Elsey but this time he could only parry the free-kick, allowing Bennett to convert from a couple of yards out.
The interval saw Jim Rollo, who had been on the end of one too many Chenoworth challenges, and Graeme Power make way for Mike Trought and trialist Richard Lamacraft. The second half began with a rare incisive move by City giving John Williams a shooting change. His struck the effort cleanly but it flashed inches wide of the far post. The game soon descended back into the same pattern as the first half and the home side should have doubled their lead when Shuttlewood failed to claim a deep cross. It was obvious to all concerned that the game couldn’t end soon enough although the closing minutes did see City twice go close to grabbing an equaliser. Both chances came from half cleared corners as first Gary Owers hit a shot that had the keeper rooted to his spot but flew a yard wide of the post. Monelle then tried his luck from a similar position with the same end result and moments later the referee did the best thing he had all evening by ending proceedings.