Gloucester City 1-2 Kingstonian
KINGSTONIAN AND ON AND ON AND ON

Battle commenced at Manor Park a mere ten minutes after most K's fans had entered the ground. With K's trying to avenge the defeat in the same competition a few seasons before, this was always going to be a tough one. Leworthy remained on the subs' bench giving Holligan another run out, and the veteran was joined by Ronaldo look-a-like, Dean Thomas.

In the early moments Farraley was tested, and it was clear that the physical battle we were expecting was about to ensue. Pitcher, fouled on the by-line, got up to take a free-kick which was wasted, and Patterson received his first nasty challenge of the day from Rutter, before he'd even had a chance to leave his calling card.

It appeared that K's were trying to keep the ball on the floor more than their opponents, but Gloucester's long balls caused danger when Hemmings picked up the ball on the left and was unlucky not to cause more danger than the corner that he won off Matt Crossley. Following this, K's applied pressure at the other end of the field. A foul on Simon Stewart by Wyatt just outside the area gave a promising opportunity, but unfortunately Pitcher couldn't keep his curled shot on target.

But K's did take the lead after a long ball from the back was played over Eddie Akuamoah's head. He took one touch to control it and then fired it low and to the left to put K's one up. This started a sustained period of Kingston pressure. Gavin Holligan played in Alex Willglass, but he was dispossessed, and Pitcher 'won' a free-kick following an impressive dive, but was unable to provide a telling cross from it.

Gloucester's best reply in the opening stages was from Steve Ferguson who fired a good shot first time after the ball was played square to him. Faralley did well to smother this, but soon after, the K's defence was caught ball watching as Burns beat the off-side trap and shot over from a tight angle to the right of goal when a square ball would have proved far more threatening.

Perhaps feeling frustrated at the lack of goals despite their good chances the number 9, Andy Mainwaring, went on a fouling mission. First he clattered into Mustafa on the right of the centre circle and then a clear elbow on Patterson went unpunished. He needn't have felt so frustrated though, as an equaliser proved to be just around the corner. Wyatt found the ball wide on the right and flighted over a perfect cross to Tuckers who headed down at the far post.

With scores level again, the Gloucester fans found their voices and the physical battle took over again. Crossley defended well against Callinan, but Mainwaring commited his third bookable offence when he again elbowed an opponent, this time Simon Stewart. However, the uncautioned Tigers Terrier was soon ironically felled as he challenged Faralley after the ball was safe in his hands. But he found that running into the cast-iron like Farralley frame caused him more harm than good. The half ended with Pitcher and Wyatt on the floor, no-one sure who fouled who.

The teams emerged from the tunnel with Scott Corbett on for Simon Stewart. Corbett was clearly fired up for this, and unleashed a shot within seconds of the restart. K's again went close when Holligan put through Patterson who fell in the area, and a weak penalty appeal was made. A spell of cup football end to end play ensued, with corners for both sides. As Hemmings broke away and set up an attack, the K's defence was caught on the hop. They couldn't clear and Mainwaring looked to have put City in the lead until play was called back for off-side. At the other end Mokler performed his greatest heroics of the game when he dived at the feet of Holligan to smother the ball after Patterson had put him through.

Geoff Pitcher did well hassling the midfield and won possession. He took the ball into the area and looked like he could score until he was hacked down. The ball then spilled to Holligan who finished it off, but the referee had already blown for the penalty. However, as Holligan was on the floor a number of Gloucester players began to kick the striker while he lay helpless, but surprisingly, the majority of the Kingston team turned down the chance to join the weekly brawl. Perhaps referee Mr. R. Palmer from Bath thought that he was at the local rugby club, whose home team also play in red + white hoops, because he felt that one booking to number three, Gary Thorne, was enough punishment for the foul in the first instance and for the three who kicked a player while he was on the floor. Or maybe the ref deemed getting knocked out of the FA Trophy was punishement enough, as Mr. Reliable himself, Colin Luckett stepped up and slotted the ball to the right, despite the 'keeper getting his fingers to it.

Gloucester replied to this with a firm header on target, but the main end of exictement at this time was certainly the area to which K's were attacking. Scott Corbett and Gavin Holligan twice linked well to cause trouble and Alex Willglass fired in a humdinger. Corbett was on-fire, though a bit excited and deserved the booking he received for an over-powerful challenge.

The Tigers' fans roared for a penalty after a challenge on the left by-line, but attention was soon focussed on Corbett again who would have won every vote for 'Man Of The Second Half Of The Match' if there was such an accolade. His 1-2 with Holligan saw him unleash an amazing shot which just cleared the left hand upright. Soon after this his cross was fumbled by Mokler but there was no-one on hand to pick up the pieces.

Tarkan Mustafa was clearly the most calm man in the stadium. When a low and hard cross came into the K's area from the right, he coolly controlled it whilst running towards goal, and played it off for a corner. As time was ticking past, Gloucester frantically sought an equaliser. Faralley was forced to punch clear at the near post, and that proved to be the Tigers' last real chance.

As the final whistle sounded, K's were relieved to be into the next round. Despite awful refereeing (both sets of fans would agree, though for different reasons), and a fierce battle put up from Gloucester, K's proved they were the better team, and deserved the victory.