City kept up the chase
of leaders Nuneaton with this scrappy but hard fought
victory at relegation threatened Rothwell. The match had
been threatened by snow and persistent sleet, and
Rothwell's pitch soon looked like a heavily ploughed
field. The match was hardly a heart warming affair, and
the damp cold weather seemed worse in such bleak
surroundings. How Cecil Road managed to pass the ground
grading committee is beyond me, at least this defeat
leaves the ground a little closer to a return to the
Midland Division.
The Gloucester side
showed few changes from Saturday, with Burns once again
absent and Hemmings and Smith once again on the bench.
Wayne Thorne did however return from injury to re-take
his number three shirt, stretched or otherwise. It was as
well both Thorne brothers were in the side, as City
needed all the defensive qualities they could muster.
Rothwell spent the first half with the considerable slope
in their favour, and they dominated much of the play.
However they created few clear chances, with City
defending in numbers. Only once did the Bones (?!) get
past Kemp and Mountain, only to see Holloway belt the
ball off the line. Despite being largely on the back foot
City had a couple of good chances, with Rothwell showing
little sign of defensive metal. Mings was unlucky not to
beat the keeper to a good through ball from Gary Thorne,
while Tucker also saw the keeper steal the ball from him
after he'd done well to charge down a defensive
clearance. City's best chance came when Rothwell's keeper
flapped at a Webb cross, and Mainwaring blazed over from
close range after Kemp's header had left him with a
gaping net.
Hughes obviously
fancied City's chances with the second half slope, and
threw on both Smith and Hemmings at half-time. The extra
pace reaped instant benefits with Rothwell now forced to
spend most of their time booting the ball clear only to
see it come straight back at them. Hemmo was the main
danger on the left, several times skipping past some
fairly lame defenders. However the match seemed to be drifting into one of those draws which has cost us so
dear in past seasons, that is until Gary Thorne picked up
another loose ball in the swampy centre circle. His pass
saw Hemmo carefully pick his way past two defenders into
the penalty box, and then draw a rash off balance tackle
which resulted in the almost inevitable penalty. The
Rothwell protests rang a little hollow after ginger
horror Wagstaffe's blatant dive at Meadow Park in
January. Holloway banged in another priceless spot kick,
and given both sides inability to carve out clear
openings it always looked like a winner.
The last period saw
the match open up a little, with Rothwell now desperately
chasing an equaliser. However Kemp and Niblett were well
re-inforced by Gary Thorne, and the extra space actually
offered City the chance to briefly play some football.
Hemmo could have caused more damage had he crossed more
often, while Smith could have opened his City account had
he not scooped his shot wide from just outside the area.
Wayne Thorne cheered the travelling fans by laying out
Wagstaffe, Rothwell only causing a brief concern with a
fluffed far post header. Mings came within inches of
getting a second from the best move of the game, as Webb
beat his man to send over an inviting cross. City held
out for an important win, which despite Nuneaton's win
keeps City just within striking distance should Nuneaton
fall in the closing straight.
Mountain 
