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City lose crucial match

- 23/02/2010

Hollands & Blair 1 City 0

Had City been able to maintain the pressure that they put on last season's champions in the early and middle stages of the first half of this crucial match on a dreadful pitch they might have been justified in thinking that a draw would have been a fair result. As it was, they spent almost the entire second half clearing their lines without being able to create sufficient chances to cause Hollands & Blair much concern.

At the end there were two obvious questions. How can Hollands & Blair maintain such a high standard and produce so many successful results on such a ghastly pitch, and have City blown their chances of promotion? The answer to the second question is that it's still too early to say but without doubt this City team that lacked several experienced players and had a five man midfield with only Royston Gough as a central striker, looked a shade lightweight.

The absence of Wayne Fittall, Dave Read and Scott Lawford damaged the chances of giving City a serious hope of bringing about what would have been a huge morale-boosting victory. Gough could not be faulted in his endeavour, and in the early part of the match certainly he had the H & B defence back tracking uneasily. Renford Tenyue supported him with speed and surprisingly good control on the soggy surface, but in the end City's heavily populated midfield failed to have much control in that area, and long balls out of defence frequently missed them out altogether.

Early on hopes were high as City took the game to H & B. After only three minutes Gough went on a long run and forced the H & B 'keeper into a last second scramble to hold on to the ball. Craig Southern, always one to try long shots, almost caught the H&B keeper out of position but the ball flew wide. The City midfield players worked the ball well but it was as if H&B were prepared to absorb the early pressure before making moves of their own. When they did press forward for the first time, Paul Hyde, in the City goal, had to grab a powerful shot that could have gone between him and the near post.

The match winning goal came in the sixteenth minute when H&B cut through City's midfield. Ricky Freeman was played into possession approaching the penalty area and hit a solid low shot out of Hyde's reach.

City were provoked into their most organised football of the game. Gough had a shot that swept past the post and Mike Seager's long throws were never easy for H&B to manage. When Gough was brought down as he approached the penalty area, there were hopes of a positive outcome from the free-kick but H&B cleared and went into the interval ahead, though the margin gave City hope.

City manager Dave Fairclough made a number of second half changes including bringing on promising striker Justin MacVicar, and he gave midfielder Craig Southern more responsibility for moving forward, but the long-ball game became the preferred option, which was easily mopped up by a physically powerful H&B defence. Tenyue was moved from a wide position into the middle to assist Gough but even so, as the game moved into the last third, it was City who were constantly battling to stop themselves going further behind. They would have done so had not Hyde tipped the ball over the bar from one of H&B's several shots from outside the penalty area.

CITY: Hyde; White (MacVicar), Lingham. Baker, Seagar, Lockhart, Southern (L. Jackson), Smith (Minshull), Whiting, Tenyue, Gough.