Bishops Cleeve

Fifty three weeks after the previous disappointing trek into the shadow of Cleeve Hill City were again drawn in a knockout competition at BGB Division One (Midland) side Bishops Cleeve. It was good to hear a vocal City following among the rather sparse crowd and, thankfully, the game was without any controversial undertones this time.

The home side started strongly and put the City defence under some pressure in the opening minutes, but without producing any clear-cut chances. Having weathered the initial rush City came back strongly with Ikechi Anya looking very sharp and showing his marker(s) a clean pair of heels on more than one occasion during the next 15 minutes.

James Saulsbury and Liam Malone were combining well on the City right and one interchange of passes produced a Saulsbury cross and flick-on by Alex Stewart that Jon Gardner almost reached at the far-post.

Cleeve’s best chance of the half fell to Kevin Slack on twenty minutes when a run from half-way took him into City’s penalty area but his shot was wide of the target; and a well-flighted cross from Lee Davis a few minutes later was dealt with tidily by debutant keeper Steve Smith, signed during the week from Hemel Hempstead. Generally, though, it was the visitors who were having the better of the half.

Stewart put a header wide from an Andy Gunn free-kick; a Jon Gardner shot from all of thirty yards faded past the post; and another attacking run from Anya eventually produced a shot that ex-City keeper Paul Tassell held comfortably.

Ikechi Anya was involved in the two most promising moves in the final ten minutes. Ed Ward was booked for pulling back Jermaine McSporran around half-way and while the other defenders were discussing the accuracy of the decision with the referee the quickly-taken free-kick released Anya into space but his shot was scrambled away. And just as the first period was drawing to a close he again outpaced his marker but, faced with an ever-narrowing angle, shot into the side-netting when, perhaps, a pass to the unmarked McSporran might have been the better option.

HALF-TIME: BISHOPS CLEEVE 0-0 OXFORD CITY

City gained just the start they needed two minutes after the break when a good piece of running by McSporran led to a corner. Peter Weirich swung the ball in and Andy Gunn headed beyond Tassell’s right hand and into the net. Almost immediately yet another jinking run from Anya took him into the area and his cross was almost bundled home by Alex Stewart. But Stewart made no mistake on 57 minutes when he controlled a deep cross from James Saulsbury, turned well and finished accurately into the bottom corner.

City were dominating proceedings and restricting the home side to occasional forays into dangerous territory. Around the mid-point of the half Kevin Slack had a couple of bustling runs at the City defence. The first was halted abruptly by a belated off-side flag and the second by an over-vigorous tackle from Andy Gunn: the subsequent free-kick being fired wide by substitute Johnny Meadows.

A Luke Corbett cross was grasped by Smith in a crowded area and play switched quickly to the other end where James Faulkner, on for Stewart, made room for himself with the ball and hit a fierce shot that Tassell did well to stop but could only parry it into the path of McSporran who accepted the chance to put City three goals ahead after 78 minutes.

No defending deep today and City continued to take the game to their opponents. As the clock ticked down City players ran the ball into the corners in time-honoured fashion and Jon Gardner drew a foul at one of these moves and then promptly delivered a perfect cross to the far post for Stuart Cattell to head the fourth with two minutes left. And almost with the last move of the match George Redknap fed Weirich wide on the left and the defender’s powerful strike just cleared the bar.

FULL-TIME: BISHOPS CLEEVE 0-4 OXFORD CITY

Bishops Cleeve: Tassell, Avery, Collins, Ward, Rhodes, Axton, Bayliffe, Rutter (Meadows 60), Slack, Corbett, Davis (Tustain 66).
City: Smith, Saulsbury, Weirich, Gunn, Cattell, Malone (Pond 81), Gardner, Redknap, Stewart (Faulkner 73), Anya (Jones 73), McSporran.

This was a match that City controlled almost from start to finish, and it was fitting revenge for last season’s FA Cup defeat. Windsor & Eton at home in the next round in two week's time.