City 0 v Hemel 1full time att 916

Kevin and Ryan for Jack and Ross. Sean Rigg one of 4 on the bench.

Oh dear other results went in our favour and the squad is getting rather threadbare.

Is Matt Richards also injures?

Hemel keeper had a blinder. Don't think the ref liked us that much as well. City played some fantastic football and were by far the better team (apart from in the goal scoring department )

I did notice that Mrs. White, that the other results of the day were favourable to us, so all not completely disastrous. Still in the play off pecking order. Onwards and upwards, gents!

I thought at times we probably as well played as well as we have all season but if you don't take your chances you run the risk of even a dreadful side like Hemel getting a break in the box.

Hey ho, on to Wealdstone.

Not there today but still we’ll placed despite the defeat.

A real shame as a couple of wins this week would have put us right up there.

Expectations rose after Woking.

Hopefully the chances will go in for the next 2/3 games.

Good crowd. No joy again in terms of the result

Frustrating game - the longer it went on the more you couldn’t avoid the feeling that Hemel were going to nick it.

Having said that our passing game early in the second half was really impressive and we were tearing Hemel apart with just the final ball often letting us down.

The turning point was possibly Adam Mann’s one-on-one with the keeper - if he had been able to push it around him I think it would either have been a goal or a penalty. We didn’t really have a clear cut chance after that and after Hemel scored our lack of a ‘plan B’ - which has been said before - was exposed again.

Although it is a consolation that the other results went our way, it is also a frustration as it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.

Important that we stay in there until all of the injured players are back.

Another example of City being jinxed by a decent crowd

Aside from the 6-0 thrashing a couple of seasons ago (and the FA Cup win last season), Hemel have always been a frustrating team for us to play at Twerton Park. To be fair, they have been a reasonable footbaling side always and thought they may deserve a point today but, to be honest, they deserved the win. I thought that we would rue not going in at half-time 1-0 up and so it was proven. In the second half, it was more evenly matched and it was really just a case of two chances - Adam's missed one-on-one (which was his only mistake in an otherwise excellent performance) and Cawley's, I thought, excellent goal. There were, of course, plenty of shots just wide and saved but, really, I think it came down to one chance taken and one not. As everyone says, results around us have been kind and this league is tight enough to have a lot of twists and turns to go. The issue that slightly concerns me is that we haven't won at home in the league for two months now (albeit with fewer opportunities than normal). Perhaps, it's just one of those things. Injuries are starting to tell somewhat and it is only going to get busier.

You can only say Hemel deserved to win on the basis that their game plan worked to perfection. I do not remember them having a single shot in the first half. Losing Amankwaah was a massive blow as the defence is always makeshift from then on.
We had numerous chances to score -not just Mann's one on one-but their goalkeeper was terrific.
I felt if we had got one we would have got a hatful but you just knew that after our blistering opening to the second half it wasn't going to be our day.
Of course we weren't helped by a ref who appeared to want to indulge a physical side to the extent that he did not send off their 9. That in itself wouldn't have affected the outcome but is the epitome of his overall performance.
I have to admit that I am failing to cling to the idea we have a plan B. But I don't think it would have made any difference yesterday. We had the chances - we just didn't take them.

Can't agree with Marc Monitor that Hemel deserved to win or even to get a point really - they didn't show much ambition and apart from the goal hardly had any clear cut chances. Once they went ahead though it was inevitable that they would step up the time wasting, but the extra 5 minutes was reasonable.

I do agree with tovid though that if we got one goal we would have gone on to win easily, but as someone once said you have to get the first one to get the second! As for the refereeing, by James Durkin standards it wasn't too bad, although he bottled it by not sending off their number 9 - I think the foul he wasn't booked for was worse than the one he was!

Great to see another big crowd, marketing and other promotions really starting to pay off. Some of the footballing moves yesterday were probably the best I've seen all season and disappointing not to go into half time with a lead. Second half looked a matter of when rather than if City would take lead with almost constant pressure at times. I agree with earlier post though that one on one miss seemed to be turning point - we barely looked capable of equaliser let alone winner after that so end result inevitable from that point onwards.

Couple comments off the pitch - really enjoy the post match interviews in Charlie's, always stay for these. Second point is attention given to making it as easy as possible to get served in bar with things like Orderoo and noticed contactless for first time yesterday - can't comment on Premiership but I know clubs as high as Championship fall way short of what we get at Twerton Park, so again credit to people behind this.

Despite result really good day and onto Wealdstone now next Sat.

Thanks Tony. I've passed on your nice comments to those behind these initiatives.

I didn't see the second foul as it was when the radio equipment died so I was faffing about with that, but a few seemed surprise it wasn't a second yellow. I don't think it would have made a difference, wasn't long left and they would have thrown even more people behind the ball with no-one up top presumably. Still, was odd to see Hemel not have a player sent off at Twerton after so many in recent years.

Was even stranger seeing them win there - first ever against us at TP (first win since 2006 including all games) and their first success at TP since the day we won the Southern League at Yate - they beat Team Bath 3-1. It was also only their second goal against us at Twerton.

The last two times we've played them at home they've been quite resolute. I thought we'd have some joy against their centre-backs but what Ward lacks in pace (he is 40) he makes up for in experience, and I thought Yakubu was excellent. Did they deserve to pinch a win? Not in my opinion. I think we did well to create so many chances against a defensive team, just needed to take them. I can see Hemel getting a few points on the road playing that way as it'll frustrate opponents. This isn't a dig at them, I have nothing against them at all, I'll be interested if they play like this at home. Could have all been because it was a new manager's first match.

Going by last season, next week we'll be playing the most anti-football team in the league. I might be a bit more bitter if we lose that, especially if it's a repeat of April's injustice.