Before penning this I noted down the title ‘Upset in Somerset’, a play on words as much as a premonition, but still, I had a bad feeling about this one.
The teams entered to a trumpet tune akin to the fanfare Ryanair play when the plane to Alicante arrives on time. After ten minutes, the first action with a Rovers penalty shout of the ‘seen them given’ variety, but it wasn’t and City’s first goal followed shortly after. Rovers failed to clear and paid for it with a clumsy goalmouth scramble ended by an easy toe in.
The second goal was a farce – embarrassingly bad. Cedric Evina dribbled the ball along the goal line instead of hoofing it clear allowing Mark Little to slide in behind him and poke the ball home, again!
After half-time the cause looked more lost when Harry Forrester booted the ball at the net from halfway, long after the whistle had been blown; missing the goal by a wide margin and receiving a second yellow card for his troubles.
Rovers did have a goal ruled out midway through the half; Nathan Tyson finishing well after the whistle. He didn’t get a cautrion; perhaps it’s dependent on the quality of the finish?
City’s third was another lacklustre defensive mistake leading to another easy tap in.
The game was evenly matched, but lost through four silly mistakes. I had 3-0 City on a betting slip before the game only to talk myself out of it. Dickhead.
by Jack Peat
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