Saturday 26 February 2005 - Twerton Park - kick off 3.00pm Southern League Premier Division

Although their opponents were struggling at the wrong end of the table and had suffered a 3-1 reversal at the hands of City back in September they came into the game on the back of two wins and a draw from their last three games. Gary Owers made three changes to his starting line-up that had drawn 1-1 with Chippenham Town. He dropped himself and youngster Ricky Hulbert, bring in Russell Milton and Scott Partridge. One further enforced change saw Darren Hawkins replace Ben Cleverley, who had returned to Forest Green Rovers at the end of his loan period. Dunstable’s improved form was clear from the start and they tested Paul Evans after just six minutes. Hatch burst between Steve Jones and Matt Coupe but the big keeper was equal to his shot. He also had to be alert to deny Hayes after he got ahead of Jones again and then on 16 minutes Hatch completely mis-kicked a great cross by Hayes when it looked a certain goal. City had barely produced an attack worthy of the name up to this point, although Hawkins was providing the side with more width than usual and he had created the only early opening for City that saw Martin Paul’s shot blocked. However, after 22 minutes City finally produced a rare piece of quality football and took the lead. Bobby Ford’s pass sent Partridge clear on goal and, after Taylor had blocked his initial shot, the loose ball fell perfectly for Paul to knock it home from six yards. City failed to build on this break and Dunstable continued to look the better side, getting the ball into the net five minutes later but it was correctly ruled out for a clear push on Evans. On the half hour City almost scored a second after Taylor had got involved in a mix-up with a defender on the edge of the box. Paul lobbed the ball back toward goal with the keeper stranded but Covingham won a vital aerial challenge with Partridge on the line to clear the danger. The rest of the half was almost entirely the visitors as Evans was forced into a finger-tip save from Hayes and then he dived on the ball during a desperate goalmouth scramble. He was beaten moments later only for Paul to head Covington’s effort off the line. Their cause was not helped by Jones limping off with a dead leg on 37 minutes forcing a reshuffle in defence. Owers replaced him and slotted in at right-back with Rollo moving into an unfamiliar centre-back spot. A rare City attack ended with Ford shooting wastefully wide before, in first half stoppage time, Jim Rollo’s looked to have felled Hatch in the box only for the referee to wave the penalty appeals away. He then bottled another decision before the interval when Taylor seemed to elbow Paul after claiming the ball. The weak official just blew up for half-time to avoid having to make a difficult decision.

If City had been somewhat fortunate to be a goal up at half-time within four minutes of the restart their luck increased as they doubled the advantage. Milton and Ford were involved in the move that saw Paul neatly turn in the area. His shot was blocked by Taylor’s legs but again it fell kindly for City, this time Alex Sykes the beneficiary firing home from eight yards out. Within four minutes, though, Dunstable were back in the game. Having not given a clear penalty in the first half the referee clearly tried to make up for this error by adjudging that Matt Coupe had fouled Hatch whilst allowing the ball to run back to Evans. It was a ludicrous decision but Hayes took full advantage, sending Evans the wrong way from the spot. Suddenly nervous again City were guilty time after time of giving the ball away but the visitors couldn’t take advantage of their hosts generosity. In fact, although they had less possession City looked the likelier to grab another goal for a spell. Hulbert, on for Partridge just after the hour, shot wide after Sykes’ cross had picked him out and then failed to hit the target cutting in from the left flank. Sykes also produced a Futsal-esq trick in the box but couldn’t appeal a finishing touch and then Hawkins, who had faded from the game after a good first half, tried to beat Taylor with a quickly taken free-kick. The closing ten minutes finally saw Dunstable threaten City’s goal. Owers produced a great tackle to halt Hatch and several good openings ended with tame shots straight at Evans. The closest they came to grabbing a deserved equaliser was in stoppage time when Hatch’s low shot was grabbed by Evans at full-stretch.