Match Report | City battle out a big three points

City ran out 3-2 winners against fellow high-flyers, Poole Town, to secure our sixth home League win in a row.

There was a cagey opening to this one as both of these in-form teams weighed each other up.

The first action resulted in a penalty to the visitors with five minutes on the clock when Harry Emmett was adjudged to have fouled Shaquille Gwengwe as his pace took him away from the City man.

It was Gwengwe who picked himself up to take the spot-kick and whilst Jared Thompson went the right way, the ball squirmed from his grasp and over the line to give the visitors an early lead, much to the delight of their travelling fans behind the goal.

Finding ourselves in the somewhat unusual situation of being a goal down, we set about the task of getting back into the game and an inviting cross from Ed Williams was cleared just ahead of King Baidoo.

From the resulting corner, Harry Pinchard looked to make something happen on the edge of the area but he was crowded out as the visitors got purple shirts behind the ball to scramble clear. When the ball came back in from Ben Richards-Everton, in for his first start, Adam Parkes was on hand to claim.

The leveller arrived on the quarter-hour mark when some neat play saw the ball threaded through to Joe Hanks and he made no mistake to fire home as the visitors’ appeals for offside were waved away.

Within a minute City were ahead when some slick build-up play ended with Hanks feeding Aaron Wildig who produced an accomplished finish into the bottom right corner to give the keeper no chance as it went in off the post to send the City faithful in the T-End wild with delight.

The momentum was firmly with us at this stage as King Baidoo posed questions in our next raid as the visitors’ back-line cleared under pressure.

A free-kick for the visitors in a dangerous position on the edge of the area was curled wide of the target by Kristian Campbell midway through the opening period.

Shouts for handball against Josh Staunton were waved away by the referee after a ball over the top from Harry Pinchard in search of Hanks caused problems for the ‘keeper. Then another handball appeal fell on deaf ears from a powerful Elis Watts drive.

Straight away at the other end, Antonio Diaz tried his luck as Thompson was equal to it with a smart save.

Just over ten minutes from the end of the opening period and with the pace of the game calming down from what it was, Watts lined up a low strike from distance that crept just wide of the target.

As the interval approached, an inviting ball in from the right by Watts was met with a deft header from Hanks that saw Parkes scoop the ball around the post.

There was a blow right on the stroke of half-time when Wildig was forced out of the action, to be replaced by Sopuruchukwu Obieri, as we went in at the break 2-1 to the good.

The second period started with some quick feet from Obieri to win a free-kick right on the edge of the area. The defensive wall did its job to thwart Watts’ powerful effort as the rebound was cleared to safety.

Some good pace from Baidoo out wide saw him beat his man and feed Hanks who just couldn’t get enough power on his effort to trouble the ‘keeper.

Just before the hour-mark we were able to increase our lead when a delicious ball from Ed Williams set Baidoo away and he took it in his stride to slot home with an accomplished finish to give us some breathing space.

It prompted a triple change by our opponents and one of their new introductions, Ik Hill, linked up with Diaz who forced a routine save from Thompson in what was a rare foray for the visitors.

City were managing the game well and in control as the second period went on. Richards-Everton was replaced by namesake, Ben Morgan, having put in a solid shift which was recognised by the ovation that he received from the home fans as he made his way off the pitch.

An intelligent ball from Obieri threaded through Watts who looked to take it around the ‘keeper, who was alert to gather at his feet as the chance was lost.

New loan signing, Mitch Roberts, came off the bench with just over ten minutes to go to replace Baidoo who put in a sparkling display to cause our opponents all sorts of problems with his pace and skill throughout the afternoon.

The visitors were able to pull a goal back out of the blue when a low drive from Henry Spalding found the way into the net with the aid of a slight deflection from Ben Morgan along the way.

It set up a tense final seven minutes as we worked hard to defend our lead amidst pressure from the visitors, who had their tails up. But in the end we managed to see it out and secure a big three points against fellow high-flyers and our sixth home League win in a row.

CITY | J. Thompson, Jones, O’Regan, Williams, Wildig (Obieri 44), Watts, Hanks (Phillips 82), Richards-Everton (Morgan 65), Pinchard, Emmett, Baidoo (Roberts 78). Sub not used: C. Thompson.

Goal(s): Hanks (15), Wildig (17), Baidoo (58)

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