No goals in Spartan draw.

 

For the second week,City played Twyford Spartans at Amory Park,Tiverton.Last week saw a narrow loss in the semi final of the cup,this week City shrugged off that loss in their return to league action.

 

Conditions were quite different although there was no change in the matching of the sides.The previous two encounters were tight affairs and so this again proved.This time,on a bright sunny morning with a fair cold breeze,the grass had been freshly mown and the ground had dried up.The pitch,which was bumpy,made for a fast uneven playing surface,leading to the ball being often difficult to control.

 

The first half saw very little opportunity for goal offensives by either side.The game was living up to a spartan nature in terms of advantage and seemed to consist of continuous ground territory gain by way of throw ins.It was easy to lose count of the number of times the ball went out of play and each side progressed slowly up the line.The linesmans arms must have been aching after the game!City were competitive to the ball though and were more often than not first to the header.One bright spot saw Cameron force a good save for a corner from a freekick.

 

The second half saw City have much the better of the play but frustratingly,the creation of chances was still spartanly sparse.A change to a 3-3-1-1 formation had a positive impact.City survived an early scare when the best Spartan player was allowed to turn and run with the ball,shooting just wide although Sam R had it covered.From a great goalkick clearance the ball bounced over several heads and Alfie W was away,his chip on the keeper just the wrong side of the righthand post.Tom had a great run thwarted later on as the City strikers were implored to stay up the field to draw the defenders to them,releasing midfield space for City to attack with.Dan rattled the bar on one such occasion that this strategy paid off.

 

As the game drew to a close,City competed to the end to deserve a point away from home and a well earned Easter break looms.The Match picks were captain Ryan and Will P for midfield creativity.