British Gas Business Football League Premier Division Tuesday 17 April 2007 - Cossham Street - kick off 7.45pm

Report taken from by Stephen Ware

After a frantic opening, City had to wait until the tenth minute for their first sight of goal when good work from Mike Green presented Jim Rollo with an opportunity that he blazed over. Chris Lane pulled a long-range volley wide for the hosts six minutes later, but there was precious little goalmouth action early on. Darren Hawkins' deflected shot nearly fell to Tom Jacobs on 18 minutes as Field pressed and clearly meant business. On the 20-minute mark, Martin Paul nearly caught home keeper Steve Book out with a long-range effort. A minute later, he had the ball in the net before being flagged offside. Green then fired in a vicious shot from distance that Book did well to hold as City settled, although they were lucky not to be reduced to ten men when Adie Harris was booked after appearing to catch Lane with an elbow. And City were also fortunate not to be a goal down at the break as Jacobs skied a glorious opportunity on 40 minutes after exchanging passes on the edge of the box. Play then switched to the edge of the home area as City were awarded a free-kick when Paul was brought down by Gary Warren, who saw yellow, but Lewis Hogg drilled the set-piece at the wall.

Jacobs nearly broke the deadlock when he lashed just wide five minutes after the restart, but that only served to rile City. The visitors moved up a gear and Green was inches away from beating Book with a smart shot, while Edwards would have broken the net had his 18-yard piledriver been on target. Paul then rounded the home keeper, forcing Chris Whitcombe to react smartly and put the ball behind. Mangotsfield too had their chances as the game opened up, the best coming when City captain Rollo had to head a Lane shot off the line. Former Field striker Paul was a cigarette paper away from connecting with Steve Jones' cross on 72 minutes before Book was again down sharply to save from Rollo. City thought they were home and dry in the 83rd minute when Prosser headed home after an Edwards flick, but the goal was ruled out after the former Yate striker was deemed to have pushed Warren. Hogg then threatened to power through, but couldn't get a clean shot away. As pulses raced, Mangotsfield defender Alex Ball saw his strike deflected behind and Hawkins' corner marginally evaded several of his teammates' heads. With time running out, Edwards nearly capitalised when Book spilled another Rollo shot, but that proved to be City's last chance and they could yet be set for another nervous afternoon at nearby Yate on Saturday.