County 2 Gloucester City 2 ; Conference North
Today`s Main Stand View circa 03.00
The US ,and therefore the world, economy will not , after
all, hurtle off the vertiginous fiscal cliff into the abyss beyond........the
major UK utility companies , oblivious to all that, did raise their prices yet
again in their uniquely provocative style.........oh....and the Yeti, it turns
out is likely to be nothing more than a boring old bear!
Yes.....such a disappointing week, so it was perhaps no
surprise when County followed the script and gave their supporters more of the
angst ridden stuff to chomp on, this time against first time visitors to
Edgeley Park-Gloucester City. Things
looked anything but bad, when urged on by the impressive Rhys Turner, the blues
scooted into a not undeserved 2-0 lead, but County almost managed to snatch
defeat from the jaws of victory by conceding two goals in a six minute period
in the second half, as they re-visited all their worst nightmares of the past,
and capitulated to a couple of simple long balls. Two apiece could quite easily
have been 2-3 in the minutes that followed the equaliser, but somehow County
held out, and might even have won it late on had their nerve held and their
shooting been a tad more accurate.
It was not to be ,and to be fair the crowd of over 2700
took the loss of two points pretty well, giving the team a decent hand at the
end, but some improvement might be needed come next Saturday, if more
disappointment isn`t to follow at Histon.
Out come the teams.
Back to 3 o’clock then, and the early play took place
just inside the County half, but nothing much of consequence happened until the
3rd minute when County conceded a free kick and Gloucester somehow
contrived to magic the ball back to Dennis who was not a million miles from
goal. It looked a chance as the Stockport forward`s shot was fired off on the
turn, but Mike Green in the visitors goal, stood firm and kept it out well.
A minute later and Gloucester gave us something to think
about on the break as Joe Parker forced Charnock to concede a corner, which
Matt Liddiard reached but could not control.
Gosset ran the ball clear from the goal kick that
followed, but Duxbury found his way through block and Dennis was unable to
outwit Jack Harris when the ball came his way in the box.
County then went on the offensive, pushing their
opponents back on their heels, but when Green flapped mightily at a corner,
they could not take advantage of the fact and it stayed 0-0.
The pressure from the blues continued with Lofthouse kept
out by a wall of yellow/ black shirts, and Harris in action diving to head
clear. County still had to be vigilant though, and Charnock proved that he
could be and did enough to snuff out a potential break with a neat tackle on
Will Morford.
So far then....no great alarms for County, if no massive
bonuses either, and a slightly iffy moment came next when a speculative effort
from Danny Mullins flew across goal going out only inches from goal ,with
Jacobs waving a leg at it lazily.
If that was iffy......the next bit was decidedly
not....at least from a County perspective, as a slack bit of work from City ,at
the back, gifted the ball to Lofthouse who promptly picked Turner out ahead of
him in the box. He had company in the shape of Harris, and it was there to
miss, but with Green drawn, the HtH backed forward slotted a peach of a finish
home!
That was excellent, and things almost got even better,
within no time at all, when a magnificent back heel from Turner saw Dennis in
on goal. Chance....yes......goal....no, as the ex Curzon Ashton hit man failed
to put it away.
Tyler Weir then won Gloucester a corner, but Morford
could not get on the end of it, and the excellent Turner was able to help out
and clear his lines.
Moses went off after this, being replaced by Platt, which
was disconcerting being the second time in two games that a substitution had
been forced on us early!
County continued to dominate proceedings though, but
there was time for Ormson to send me scrambling for the BP pills with a
precarious bit of brinksmanship that, with Edwards and Parker in the vicinity,
was as chancy as it was unnecessary. In the end he executed it well enough, but
I could imagine his critics firing the boilers up as he lumped the ball clear.
Meanwhile half chances were coming and going for County
as Duxbury sped onto a neat pass from Dennis only to welly an overly powerful
cross way out of everyone`s reach. Dennis went close shortly after, after
Jacobs had pierced the visitors defences with an imperious cross field ball.
Mostly....but not all County then......City did have the
odd moment , but their play looked plodding and predictable ,and when chance
presented itself, as when a fine pull back by Liddiard picked Mullins out a
yard from goal, the end product was lacking in cutting edge, and Mullins
snatched at it sending the ball wide.
Still the better chances were falling to County, but they
were proving no more efficient in the matter of putting them away than were
City, and Howard missed a lulu, on 33 minutes, from a decent ball from Dennis –
failing to force it home from smack in front.
Did I say the better chances were falling County`s way?
Well..........I had cause to revise my thoughts on the subject next as Weir
forced a corner, and then took the ball along the by-line to within a yard or
so of goal where he fired in a neat shot. It was on target, but thankfully so
was Ormson and his dive allowed him to push the ball out, with Harris doing his
best to force it home.
With about 5 minutes remaining of the half it was time to
take stock of things, and I was of the mind that County should win this one
knowing that they would be attacking the Cheadle End after the break. Added to
this...... Turner was on song...Gosset was buzzing, and Platt looked settled
already, so if others could weigh in as well........
With 3 minutes left Turner sniffed another half chance
out, but unfortunately could not put it away, and when a period of blue
pressure ended with a break from the visitors, it was good to see Platt
sufficiently sorted to be able to stop Tom Webb`s gallop , to a burst of
applause from the home specs.
Both sides probed the other in the minute or so that
remained and 1-0 at the interval was not a bad return I felt and I think most
probably would agree with me.
When play re-started, County pressed on again and Green
did well to thwart a decent bit of work by Howard and Duxbury. As in the first
half already it was clear that County were going to have the lion`s share of
possession. Even so there were moments of anxiety as Tunnicliffe defaulted to
`sleep mode’ and sold Ormson dramatically short. The young keeper reacted
well.....with Morford about he had too, but Tunnicliffe did the same thing
again minutes later this time with Mullins on the scene. Again Ormson did well
and Mullins was denied, but if Gloucester sharpened up in the shooting
department, County would possibly be in deep doo doo.
Meanwhile County headed Green`s way mostly with Howard
and Turner unlucky on one occasion and Turner not long after inches away from
latching onto a loose ball in the box. It was starting to build nicely for the
blues now, just that elusive finish was missing, as Turner again just failed to
get to a through ball, this time from Duxbury. It was disappointingly close and
I thought that perhaps City would re group and come back at County encouraged
by the score line being still only 1-0.
Well................I was wrong, as Gossett`s long ball
had Turner scurrying clear down the right. The defender was goosed and he had
no chance of preventing Turner from pinging his cross in. In it came....low and
hard and Tom Webb had no chance of getting out of the way of it, and he could
not stop himself from propelling the ball into the net to double County`s
advantage!
Absolutely brilliant.......2 up and possibly game over,
except that Gloucester had other ideas, pretty basic ones as it happens but
County could not cope when out of defence, City sent it long! Suddenly it was
that dream where your legs are knee deep in treacle and everything is so hard
to do. In short County were mere bystanders ....as Morford drilled the pill
past Ormson into the net.
That was a bummer, but we were still leading so perhaps
County could get a grip again and work at getting that 2 goal lead back?
Nice thought that, but in practise it did not seem to be
panning out that way, and County were lucky to see a brilliant pull back by
Mullins from the by-line go unrewarded when Edwards could not finish the move
off.
From dominating the game County were in danger of letting
the game go, and again they were fortunate to see Edwards` header stay out when
far worse looked on.
To be fair County did try to re-establish a measure of
control, but in doing so they found Green on top of his game and well able to
deny Dennis the oxygen of a goal, that just might ignite his and his Clubs season!
Green denies County!
I was still trying to convince myself that all was well
when it again became crystal clear that it wasn`t as another long ball filleted
them good and proper , and with Ormson again exposed, Rawlings made it 2-2 with
a ruthlessly efficient finish!
This had an understandably rejuvinatory effect on City,
and an equally deleterious one on the blues whose passing started to go haywire
again.
To a degree City were happy to hit County on the break, and
it was working so the policy was likely to continue. So inevitably County had
more possession than their opponents as we went into the last 10 minutes, but
with Gloucester back in numbers it became a procession of shots coming in and
then back out off one or other defender.....Turner unlucky to see Mullins block
his shot....then Dennis who saw his shot
slam into the largely oblivious Harris. Green was fairly busy throughout all
this but with County`s propensity for being caught out by the long ball it was
no surprise to see it happen again, with 8 minutes left. Morford was the man on
the spot and the thought dawned that County just might contrive to lose this
one, as the forward`s shot was deflected for a corner. Somehow County held
out.....somehow.....and relief eventually came when Liddiard`s header whizzed
narrowly wide.
Wilson then led County a merry dance not once but 4 times
in rapid succession –it was not that great to see County looking to locate
Hardcastle Road in response and then reliant on the referee to rule a foul as
Wilson went for broke.
Yes.....County were very much under the cosh but a neat
catch by Ormson offered hope and this burgeoned into something more positive as
Turner darted clear at speed. He was through and he again drew Green from his
line only to put his shot wide of the far post.
That might have won it for the blues, and they might just
have won it again into added time as Dennis sent a header screaming for goal,
only for Green to tip it over the top in spectacular style.
County were very much in Gloucester`s face`s now and all
20 outfield players looked to be in the City box as they defended one of a series of corners......it was close,
but not close enough as they say.
Dennis again had a go with seconds ticking away after
Howard and Turner had grafted manfully as providers. Jacobs....Windsor all had
shots blocked – the final one falling to Turner who sadly lifted the ball over
the bar.
That was that then......points shared....honours even.
The temptation is to drown in a ocean of hyperbole and
ladle blame out all over the place, but there`s a long way to go of this
season- we need to improve....yes....preferably before Histon, but its far from
worlds end yet!
See you there then!
County line up ;
Ormson, Jacobs, Tunnicliffe, Charnock, Duxbury, Moses (
Platt 21), Gosset( Windsor 80),Lofthouse ( Verma 63), Turner, Dennis, Howard.
Subs not used;
Jones, Fagbola.
Gloucester City line up:
Green,Rawlings, Weir, Coupe, Harris, Webb, Parker,
Mullins, Edwards, Morford, Linniard.
Attendance: 2727
Ian Brown
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