Tuesday 16 August 2005 - Twerton Park - kick off 7.45pm Southern League Premier Division

With captain Bobby Ford’s back injury restricting him to a place on the bench City began the game with an unchanged outfield line-up to Saturday’s win at Grantham, though they were forced to make a late change in goal with Andy Fisher replacing the unwell Paul Evans. The opening twenty minutes of the match gave little indication of the events to follow as Tiverton dominated proceedings. Time and again City were left chasing shadows, as Yetton brought a stunning one-handed save low down to his right from Fisher with a header from a Mudge centre on five minutes, then Mudge himself blasted over when picked out well at the far post by a flick Walker two minutes later. City were seeing very little possession although Scott Partridge’s excellent control did give Phil Walsh a sight of goal on 13 minutes, Ovendale saving his low shot with his legs. While Tivvy continued to hold the upper hand after this their openings were becoming rarer, with Goff’s optimistic long-range effort that Fisher tipped over and Milsom’s back header from a corner, symptomatic of how City were gaining a foothold in the game. In fact, after 24 minutes they should have taken the lead with the game’s clearest opening. Partridge latched on to Milsom’s weak back header only to drag his shot wide of the far post. The turning point of the game arrived three minutes later. Tiverton made a mess of a short corner and suddenly Gethin Jones was racing up the pitch with Partridge for company and just Winters covering back. Jones knocked the ball past him only to be halted in his tracks by a disgraceful body check. Incredibly he managed to regain his footing but by then the referee had blown for a free-kick with the red card surely a formality. However, to the stunned disbelief of everyone in the ground it was only a yellow card. The injustice felt by City only served to fire them up and the impressive football Tiverton had produced was soon forgotten as they turned to any means possible to try to stop the home side. Winter then showed another distasteful side to his game with unnecessary theatrics when challenged by Walsh near the touchline which was almost as unpleasant as his block on Jones. Holloway was then equally fortunate to escape with just a caution for his shocking late tackle on namesake Jon Holloway. Sandell’s strong run was ended by a blatant trip by Holloway inches before he got into the penalty area on 30 minutes but the free-kick came to nothing. The rest of the half passed in a quieter fashion though it was clear which team now had the upper hand.

The second half began with Ovendale producing an unnecessarily showy save from Graeme Power’s 30 yard effort and Partridge easily getting the better of ex-City defender Tom Gould but failing to keep his shot down. Showing they had learned nothing from their lucky escapes during the first half Tiverton were finally reduced to ten men just after the hour mark. Wills went straight though the back of Jim Rollo on the edge of the City box and at long last the referee’s patience at Tiverton’s antics snapped and it was a red card that was flashed in the midfielders face. Steve Jones then shot over and Partridge just failed to convert a Walsh cross but the decisive goal ultimately arrived with 16 minutes remaining. Steve Jones and Partridge combined on the right flank and the cross picked out Sandell. Ovendale managed to get a hand to his header but could not prevent it hitting the net. Another former City player entered the fray after this with Reinier Moor replacing Goff but for the impact he had on the game he may have well stayed on the bench. City should have doubled their lead after 79 minutes when Ford played Partridge in on goal but his chipped shot cleared the bar by two yards. Walker did get a shot in five minutes after this that Fisher held well but fittingly the game finished with a second visiting player receiving his marching orders. The incident was preceded by several Tiverton players throwing themselves to the floor under the slightest touch from City player and this frustration ended with Holloway diving in on Adie Harris to earn his second caution. Stoppage time saw a Martin Paul effort cleared off the line that would have seen City top the table at this very earlier stage of the season but this made no difference to the feeling of a job well done against a side who, if they concentrate on football rather than the more distasteful side of the game, will be there or there about come April.