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A tactical reshuffle reaped rewards as a much improved City performance
saw the Tigers shut out the divisions top scorers and hold Hemel
Hempstead to a hard fought goalless draw, only our second point
at our rented Forest Green 'home'. At times City rode their luck
with the tudors spurning some good first half opportunities, but
having shown some improved defensive resolve City went on to test
the promotion hopefuls as the game wore on. Only some suspect refereeing
decisions denied City an advantage and despite being reduced to
ten men near the end we ended the game in much better spirit than
at kick-off.
City started as hesitantly as you might expect from a side coming
off three defeats and a couple of disappointing home performances,
but each successful minute seemed to add to our belief. The first
came when skipper Neil Mustoe
tackled well to steal the ball in midfield before executing a sharp
turn and accelerating away before sliding in Pitcher. He in turn
fed Smith whose cross shot rasped into the side netting. It was
a sign of hope, but almost immediately we knew not to get too excited.
Matt Rose sloppily gave away possession and Sawyer did well to save
from Chris Dillon before Allard and Richards scrambled away the
danger.
City were looking more solid but having trouble getting the ball
to stick up front where poor Pitcher was hopelessly outgunned in
the air by the commanding Yeboah. City were defending better but
even when doing well we can do without Lyndon
Tomkins being left alone to deal with a run of pace and Dillon
beat him only to see Sawyer produce a fantastic save, but City were
fortunate Hemel skipper Paul Edgeworth fired the rebound wide with
the goal gaping. The Tudors' skipper also saw a header loop onto
the bar, but despite the odd slip we were looking like we were defending
well as a team and at least players were running back to support
each other.
Having managed to shut out a team at the New Lawn for the opening
stages of the game for the first time since our opening fixture
we were even starting to look a little more confident, especially
down the right where Smith and Mustoe were managing to get forward
a little to provide some help for Pitcher. A clever neat chipped
pass from Chris Thompson even
got Pitcher away, cutting in from the right and forcing Brown to
save with his feet. A few minutes later some quick feet by Sykes
helped him find Pitcher who turned well but couldn't get any power
into his shot. For all of our improvements though you also got the
sense that for once we may even get some luck, Hemel's Drew Roberts
looked absolutely dumbfounded when Sawyer leapt high to palm his
shot onto the top of the bar. It was a miraculous save, just to
reach it was impressive, but to have enough wrist strength to push
it away was top class.
City were even better in the second half and managed to rattle
the promotion chasers, and only some controversial refereeing prevented
this being a more uncomfortable time for the Tudors. The turning
point of the game came early in the second half when Jack
Pitcher was played in by Price, and the Bristol striker had
a first chance to run at Hemel's Yeboah. Faced with pace the big
number six suddenly looked clumsy and he hacked the forwards feet
from under him, sending Pitcher flying. There was a strong case
that the foul was just inside the box, but the injustice of the
free kick on the edge of the area was nothing to that of the yellow
card. Yeboah had been the last defender between Pitcher and goal,
it was clearly a foul denying a goal scoring opportunity and ted
Reds should have seen red.
City threw away the free kick but more chances came, Tomkins heading
down a corner across goal but again Pitcher couldn't get any power
to his shot. Tom Webb came off
the bench and was soon involved, picking the ball up off Price who
had won the ball well, and playing in Lee Smith who dragged his
shot wide of the post from the edge of the box. Another good move
saw Pitcher turn and play Thompson in down the right, his run ending
in a low cross that just eluded Smith and Price stretching into
the goalmouth. Hemel were still finding space up front though, but
our extra attacks didn't entirely compromise the defence - when
Sawyer was finally beaten Marc Richards got back to clear off the
line.
The ref hadn't done very well throughout the game and things were
starting to get niggly in the centre of the park. Allard was off
for a while after being on the end of a late lunge, and Edgeworth
was lucky to escape unpunished after flying in on Mustoe in the
centre circle. Often those kind of incidents leave players more
willing to fly in themselves, and Edgeworth was tangled with Webb
and Rose when Jamie Price jumped
in at the ball with both feet. It was probably a tackle born more
of naivety and lack of experience than anything malicious, but the
ref had little choice and with the Hemel skipper writhing on the
grass the Welsh youth teamer was soon trooping off with a red card.
There was almost a fairytale finish as Jody
Bevan came off the bench in the final minutes, making his first
appearance in nearly a year after his dreadful knee injury. City
were taking a free kick after the impressive Allard had been scythed
down on the left touchline, and when Mustoe's free kick came into
the box Bevan came close to scoring with his first touch, only for
Hemel's keeper to just punch it off his head. City may feel they'd
done enough to nick the game, but with both sides having chances
a draw was about right -and a much better performance that gives
the City fans some hope for the next few games on the road.
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T-Ender Match Snaps
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| Lee Smith tries to get airborne down
the City right. |
Tomkins gets to grips with the dangerous
Hemel attack. |
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| Syko goes in on Hemel's Matt Gearing. |
Allard surveys his options as City attack
in the second half. |
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Team Selection:
In terms of personnel Tim Harris made just one change to his
starting XI from midweek, with Jamie
Price recalled in place of the departed Scott Griffin. Transfer
listed Tom Webb stepped up
to the bench, together with Jody Bevan returning after a lengthy
injury spell and a place amongst the subs for veteran player-coach
Adie Harris. Hemel gave debuts to two recent loan signings from
Blue Square Premier outfit Histon, with former Bedford striker
Chris Dillon partnering SLP top scorer Drew Roberts and Mark Coulson
slotting in at left-back.
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TBBM Said:
"Does Jamie Price know where he's meant to be playing, or
is he just lost?"
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Tactics Board:
After our recent record of managing to go behind within 20 minutes
during our last four home matches Tim Harris shouldn't need to
apologise for a more defensive line-up. It seemed as if Pitcher
was a lone striker ahead of a Sykes-Mustoe-Rose three man midfield,
Smith and Price providing some width and support down each flank.
It started off looking very much 4-5-1, and despite Matt
Rose trying to get forward to compete for the odd high ball
too often we didn't adapt and left Pitcher hopelessly fighting
to win the bal after another high hopeful punt from defence. By
the second half we looked a lot more composed and as we tried
to pass the ball on the ground to Pitcher's feet and use the wings
a lot more we started to trouble the Hemel defence. The system
worked even better once Webb came on, his running and energy providing
more of a natural link from midfield to the attacking players
as it looked more like a Mourinho style 4-3-3. It's clearly a
formation that could work for us at times, but will Jack
Pitcher prove strong enough to be the focal point for that
kind of attack?
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Anorak Corner:
City's attacking prowess and defensive frailties haven't made
for too many goalless draws in recent years. However this was
our second of the season after a blank day at Bashley, and that
total of two already beats last season when only the home game
with Cirencester ended 0-0.
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T-Ender Verdict
There was probably not a City fan or player who wouldn't have
taken a draw from this match before kick-off, and the fact we
ended it having cause to feel we could have had something more
is testament to the improvement we showed today. Hemel are a strong
attacking side and as top scorers in the division the fact we
ended the match without our defence being breached has to be cause
for some satisfaction. Sure we rode our luck at times and Sawyer
was again in good form with a couple of top notch saves, but even
so we looked a lot more solid than we have in recent games against
much weaker forward lines.
The side visibly grew with confidence as the match drew on and
they must have left the park feeling a lot more satisfied than
in recent weeks. It would be easy to gripe at defensive tactics
at home, but the fact is they worked and having kept it tight
in the first half we had more about us going forward in the second
half. There were still some sloppy passes going astray and our
finishing was still far from accurate, but at least by the final
whistle we were putting moves together and keeping the ball a
little better. You still sense the side can improve a lot more,
but this was a huge leap on from the previous weekend and hopefully
gives the players a real achievement to build upon. We may just
have bottomed out and started to fight back.
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Highlights Elsewhere:
The division is still very tight, just a point today saw City
bounce up four places to 15th. Behind us though the table got
even squeakier as first wins for both Cheshunt and Cirencester
leave no SLP side without a victory. A late goal from young sub
Dan Hilder gave Ciren a 1-0 win over Rugby at Butlin Road, while
the Ambers too full advantage of fellow strugglers Supermarine
to win 3-0 at Theobalds Lane. A last minute Alan Griffin strike
earned Mangotsfield a 2-2 draw at home to Banbury United, whilst
former Tiger Paul Chenoweth
was on the score sheet to round off a 3-0 home win for Yate over
Hitchin.
At the top of the table Brackley clung on to top spot thanks
to a last gasp Danny Spencer goal to edge out Merthyr 1-0, While
Team Bath kept in touch with the top as two second half goals
beat Bedford 2-0. The big game of the SLP day was at King's Lynn
where another four figure crowd saw Lynn go level with Hemel in
second spot thanks to a 2-0 win over Chippenham, Michael Frew
and Joe Turner scoring five minutes either side of the break.
In the FA Trophy preliminary round Cinderford seem unruffled by
the departure of boss Keith Knight,
thumping Stourport Swifts 4-0 thanks to a Richard Kear hatrick
and a Jimmy Cox strike.
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A.Allard
L.Tomkins
J.Price
Bookings:
T-Ender City MotM: 