Saturday 16 August 2008

British Gas Business Southern League Premier
(match 1)

at Corinium Stadium, Cirencester.

4-0

T-Ender Match Snaps

Lee Smith on the ball and the Glassboys start to crack	Ashley Thomas snuffs out a rare Stourbridge attack
Symons tries to force his way past the Stourbridge defence	Matt Walsh makes the most of his second half outing

Team Selection:

Dave Mehew picked his first side as the City boss, and there were a few surprises as his team selection took shape. James Upcott got the nod on the left wing ahead of Matt Walsh, whilst up front he opted for Mike Symons and Jack Pitcher. Boris gave debuts to four new signings, with Ballinger and Lee Marshall joining Upcott and Symons in the starting eleven.

TBBM Said:

 

Tactics Board:

After a pre-season of experimentation with the City formation Dave Mehew and Tim Harris seem to have elected to stick to the 5-3-2 shape which has served us well in recent years. Lee Marshall may have arrived as a left-back but seemed quite at home on the left of the central defence. The other tactical innovation saw new signing Luke Ballinger feature in an attacking midfield role just behind the two strikers. He caused problems for Stourbridge all the way through, and while other teams may find an answer to his darting runs and deft touches it was all far too much for the Glassboys today.

Anorak Corner:

When was the last time City saw three debutants in the same game all mark their first outing in yellow and black with debut goals?

That one's a bit too much for us to research right now - so you can also ponder the wonderful symmetry of today's choice of official. The esteemed John Law of Worcester was the ref in our last match of last season, also played in Cirencester - although with City as the away team. Despite the occasional mis-whistle from The Law we'll have him back at our matches, we scored four against Ciren in the previous match too.

T-Ender Verdict

We'll face a lot of better teams than Stourbridge this season, but it would be churlish not to take some delight in a result that puts us top of the table - even if it is only after one match. Given our club's proud history of self-destruction the benefit of a good start and a first home win shouldn't be under estimated, all be it that this result crushed a side that may well prove to be facing an uphill task to survive in the SLP. It's not as if we've never slipped up against poor opposition, but this time we rarely looked under any threat at all and coasted to a victory that was every bit as convincing as the scoreline suggests. We'll learn far more about our side's defensive and battling credentials in other games, but there was plenty of hopeful sparkle in our attacking form. On other occasions we may not be able to spurn so many chances in front of goal, but as a first outing for a new side this performance put smiles on the faces of even the grumpiest of City supporters.

Highlights Elsewhere:

City's win was enough to nudge them to the top of the table, meaningless after one game, but it sure looks good. This season's SLP may lack one club that seems like a head and shoulders clear favourite, but one notable opening day casualty was Halesowen Town, defeated at home by Tiverton with Aaron Pugh nicking the solitary goal. Amongst the other fancied sides Brackley got up and running with a comprehensive demolition of struggling Merthyr, while Chippenham will be delighted to seal a 3-1 win over demoted Cambridge City. Chris Dillon has been a familiar name on SLP scoresheets and he's off them ark already in this campaign, helping Hemel to a 1-0 win at Mangotsfield.

Farnborough are believed by many to be the strongest of the newly promoted sides but they left it late to beat Rugby at Cherrywood Road, with Michael Charles socring twice in the closing minutes to sneak a 2-1 win. Oxford City lost their new local derby with Banbury whilst Evesham rescued a point at Bedford with a last minute penalty. Back in the Western Division everyone at City will be delighted to see old boy Jody Bevan get off to a scoring start on his return to Cinderford Town. In the FA Cup City are edging closer to knowing our first opponents, with Foresters Harrow Hill still in the competition courtesy of a 4-1 defeat of Arlesford Town.

Other Match Reports:

 

Further Reading:

BGB Southern League Premier Results & Website
BGB Southern League Table

Ref Watch: