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Cup replay for City (March 29, 2008) Canterbury City 1 FC Quayside 1
Missed chances may have been the main reason why City will have to go to Strood next Saturday to replay this Kent County Cup (Junior Section) semi-final, but the underlying problem throughout was that there was too little real cup-tie spirit about their performance.
Perhaps it was a reaction to having secured League promotion the previous Saturday, plus the fact that the team had to be reshuffled at the last minute. In addition, they were up against a solid, organised and determined team from the Rochester & District League. Neither side could complain about the result. Quayside were marginally the better in the first half, City dominated the second and extra-time was a matter of the visitors holding on when they knew that City had the greater stamina.
Where Quayside could have edged it was in having the most effective player on the pitch, captain and central defender Neil Holmes, who was not only defensively always in control but had the ability to set up dangerous counter-attacks.
City suffered a problem even before the game began when Sam Baker felt unwell. He did eventually appear as a substitute but, meantime, Rob Gutsell took the right back position. Rob did well and his pace coming out of defence was of the Baker standard, but he was missed in midfield, where Quayside played the ball comfortably and positively.
Suspensions and cup-tied players also caused manager Dave Fairclough to miss some players who might have given that extra drive that the side needed. In particular, the absence of suspended Wayne Fittall from the attack cost City that special finishing power and ability to draw defenders out of position. Only when City reverted to 4-4-2 did they look comfortable with themselves.
 For a large part of the game they tried to play the ball around with commendable ambition but not a great deal of success. Quayside were more practical, and just got on with it. Gough’s 17th minute diving header a foot over the bar was a hint of what was to come. This was not one of those days when anyone could say that given a break City would win comfortably. Goalkeeper Danny Black did have long periods when he did not have much to do, but it was a game in which at any moment he might have been called on to do something important. One example came early in the first half when he had to move a long way out of goal to intercept a dangerous attack. The ball rebounded off him and Gutsell had to clear. And clearly from then on it was going to be a tight game. City went a goal down when the defence failed to pick up Simon Smith in their penalty area. Smith headed past them after a corner. Leading by that goal at half-time, it was obvious that if Quayside could have added a second one early in the second half they would have had every chance of taking the game. City were similarly aware that if they wanted to get back into a challenging position, they had to score early.
When Scott Lawford sent over a penetrating cross, Gough headed in. Once on terms, City had a lot more possession and Lawford created several openings, one of which saw Calum McGeehan slide in on the excellent Quayside keeper who managed to deflect the ball out of danger.
Up front City remained unconvincing and in defence they often looked vulnerable. Nevertheless, they ought to have avoided the replay. When Karl Williams replaced captain Dan Bonneywell, who would admit that he was not at his best, the ball seemed attracted to him. He has pace and can be an exciting striker but here he had two seemingly ideal chances to score yet missed both. At least he can console himself with the fact that he was not alone in losing sight of the day’s target.
The attendance of 175 included a number of Kent County football officials, Bridge Councillors and several members of the Ladies team.
CITY: Black; Gutsell (Baker), Hodge, Lockhart, Maxted, Brooke, Tuite, Lawford (Woodward), Bonneywell (K. Williams), Gough, McGeehan. Click here to return to the News page
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