DESERVED WIN FOR CITY

CITY returned to winning ways in the League with a deserved 2-0 victory at Rocester.
It was a purposeful start by City as we burst out of the blocks with Dave Reynolds going close with an effort that brought a smart save out of the ‘keeper.
As we continued to press, Lee Hughes’ progress was halted by an offside flag as he was threaded through before a trip of Tyler Weir saw our appeals for a penalty waved away.
Having seen a corner cause all sorts of problems for the home side before being scrambled away, we finally took the lead on 17 minutes when Hughes managed to get in a strike from the right that flew into the back of the net.
We were good value for our lead and another neat move ended with Weir looking to play in Reynolds but the ball just ran away from the front-man.
Hughes in particular was in the thick of the action and posing numerous questions for the home back-line, however Rocester almost caught us out with a counter-attack on the half-hour mark only for Weir to spot the danger and clear.
The opening period ended with the home side stepping up the pressure in search of a way back into the game, but City held firm to keep them at bay.
The second period started in much the same vein as the first half with a determined City going close within minutes of the restart through Reynolds.
Another strike from Reynolds flew just wide on 52 minutes but playing into the wind, we struggled to get properly into our stride.
There was a good save by the home ‘keeper to deny the lively Reynolds and whilst Hughes had the ball in the net shortly afterwards, his effort was ruled out for offside.
As the game started to peter out, with the conditions making it difficult for any real quality, we completed the scoring late on when Tomkinson found the net to seal the points in a game where we were in control for the large part.

CITY: Gwynne, Albert, Weir, Fishwick, M. Smith, Hayward (c), Birley (Baldwin 82), Forsyth, Hughes, Reynolds (Lewis 85), Tomkinson. Subs not used: Dayus, Harris-James, Griffiths.
ATTENDANCE: 116.