Thursday 1 January 2004 - Newport Stadium - kick off 3.00pm Dr Martens Premier Division

Manager Gary Owers was forced into making one change from the side that beat Tiverton Town on Boxing Day – keeper Mark Bryant back in the side after Woking recalled on loan keeper Ryan Northmore. He was called into action within two minutes of his return, blocking Moralee’s close range strike but after that he was rarely needed as City took almost complete control. Their passing made light work of the dreadful Newport Stadium pitch and they soon began to carve out good openings. Jason Eaton almost got onto the end of a Darren Hawkins cross after 13 minutes. Shortly afterwards the ball dropped kindly to an unmarked Frankie Bennett but he failed to connect properly with his attempted volley. Despite this dominance on the rare occasion that the Exiles did manage to string a couple of passes together City looked worrying fragile at the back. This shouldn’t have concerned them greatly though as it only looked a matter of time before they broke through. Just past the half hour mark Eaton saw a goalbound shot blocked and Russell Milton suffered the same fate four minutes later. Bennett then made a complete mess of a header from Milton’s cross and then choose to centre rather than shoot when running clear, a Newport defender denying Eaton a opening from the cross. All City’s pressure finally looked to have paid dividends six minutes before the interval when Bennett was hauled to the ground by Morgan in the box. Incredibly the referee waved away the appeals and then booked Owers and Jim Rollo for their understandable, if prolonged, protests.

This was the final notable event of the first half but little looked to have changed in the second as Hawkins brought a fine block out of keeper Roberts within moments of the restart. This all changed after 55 minutes though as the home side made City pay for their failure to turn their possession into goals by grabbing an undeserved lead. Shepherd’s hopeful cross was flicked on by Moralee to Phillips and his mis-hit shot looped past a helpless Bryant. This clearly set City back but soon they were on top again although Newport were looking more threatening as City were forced to push men forward. This positive approach finally paid off on 73 minutes as Bennett went down under a challenge from Morgan. It looked much less clear cut than the first half incident but the linesman was convinced and Hawkins made no mistake from the penalty spot. This should have been the sign for City to push on and get the win their performance deserved, only for it all to go horribly wrong within five minutes. First, goalscorer Hawkins, who had been booked moments earlier, received a second yellow for kicking the ball away after Coupe was ridiculously penalised for a challenge on Moralee. From the free-kick the ball was only half cleared to Williams. He lifted it back into the box where Moralee took full advantage of standing three yards offside to volley past Bryant. As if resigned to the ineptitude of the officials City’s complaints were so half-hearted that nobody got booked. The final 15 minutes saw City try to claw their way back into the game but with Newport players dropping to the ground at every opportunity they couldn’t build any momentum and were almost caught on the break several times, including once when one of these delicate players was waved back onto the pitch in acres of space with Newport breaking clear. Had this resulted in a goal it would have been a further injustice but, in truth, it was City who were responsible for their downfall and even the home crowds muted reaction at the final whistle showed that they knew their team had been let off the hook big style.