Clevedon Town 0-4 Bristol City

[Ian M]

City were on top throughout the first half without really creating the chances to put the game beyond doubt. A lot of our shots were pot shots from the edge of the area or headers wide from corners.

Jevo created a few opportunities for himself and Nuno Santos came into the game more and more as it went on culminating in a beautifully floated free kick into the top right corner as we look at the goal. The keeper got a hand to it but could only palm it into the roof of the net.

The first goal came when nimble footwork from Jevo led to his leg being taken away and he sent the keeper the wrong way (as usual looking at his pens for Yeovil) from the spot.

The second goal came just before half time when Brown unleashed a powerful shot at the keeper from about 8 yds and when the keeper could only parry it straight up into the air, Scotty was on hand to tap in the rebound.

The third goal was Nuno's free kick after Jennison was brought down when it looked like he was going to take the ball into the area and have a pop.

The fourth goal eventually came from a corner when Will Gardner (a fairly tall Acadamy centre back - who could possibly end up being the first "first ball" centre back the Acadamy has produced) headed in a corner from near the edge of the area. To be fair, a goal from a corner had been coming as it seemed every corner up to that point had been won by our centre backs in the air.

Of the trialists, I didn't really notice the 2nd half ones much. Vantrier did pretty well in goal but for a second half flap from a corner (that actually led to a pretty decent break away attack for us) and made some very good stops at the end. I'd be happy to extend his trial a little.

As I've mentioned in other posts, I'd look to sign Nuno Santos on a short term deal immediately and see how he progresses. He's looked good in one friendly and "not out of his depth" in the other that I've seen and if things went well we could always extend it later in the season. GJ obviously sees something in the lad and I expect us to work something out.

Cherno Samba was fairly confident on the ball and on occasion linked up well with others without looking overly threatening. I doubt there will be much of a clamour to sign him up on that performance but I think he did enough to be given another chance on Friday and see where we go from there. My initial thought though is that he's no better than Jennison Williams who looked fairly "Lita-esque" at times tonight.

Ratings:

GK Vantrier 7 - Looked fairly solid, kicked ok, decent enough shot stopper and reasonable distribution.

RB Wilson 5 - looked ok going forward, but at times looked nervous and exposed.

CB Heywood 8 - Talked well, dominated in the air and comfortable on the ground. Very sound performance.

CB McCombe 7 - Looked fairly assured without dominating as much as Heywood plus had a tendancy to go long at times.

LB Lamb 7 - Combined well with Nuno down the left and did a sound defensive job, needs to be more vocal and confident though.

DM Keogh 6 - Good job defensively, but playing against that standard of opposition, the sitting player has a real freedom to get on the ball and make his passes and dictate which Keogh didn't. Think Bradley Orr in CM.

RW Wring 7 - Without being overly pacy he seemed to waltz round defenders but lacked a little in end product.

CM Brown 7 - Busy, up and down and got up to score his goal, but never looked like dominating the midfield, and that Clevedon had so much possesion vs Brown and Keogh in comparison to Forest Green vs Skuse and Noble speaks volumes

LW Nuno Santos 9 - MOTM - Excellent first touch and linked up well with Lamb down the left. Can go wide and deliver or drift inside to take players on. Took his freekick superbly. I'd like to see more of this guy.

CF Jevons 8 - Worked hard. Decent in the air. Very good first touch and close control. Took his penalty with ease, and looked very assured. Noticeably his eyes lit up when in shooting range. Should be excellent next to a stronger player such as Brooker or Schowumni.

CF Samba 7 - Looked lively, rarely lost possession and developed a greater awareness of his team-mates' positions as the match wore on without ever really threatening.

Selected Subs:

Didn't really notice either full back or the midfield.....so here's the rest.....

CB Gardner 7 - looked fairly confident, good in the air, and scored.

CB Partridge 7 - Vocal, not afraid to give out bollockings and strong. Also he looks like he's kept himself fit over the Summer.

LW Smith 5 - Wide in both position and torso. Cumbersome and rarely troubled the Clevedon backline

CF Stewart 6 - Average. One decent shot (over the bar), one decent pass, otherwise anonymous. Against a team of this standard you would expect someone of Stewart's "quality" to really stand out but in truth he was outshone by his younger strike partner.

CF Williams 8 - Constantly involved and his pace and trickery tore Clevedon apart at times. Unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. Looks physically like Robinho.

Report in conjuction with Bristol City World commentator and football analyst Godzilla

[GeoTheCiderHead]

Scooty Brown was superb tonight. Out of the subs that came on, how can you not recognise a certain Marcus Stewart?! He displayed a few excellent touches and also got a few shots in on goal.

Edit: Well, you seem to have been reminded within the last few minutes. I think I would agree with your rating.

[Godzilla]

Scooty Brown was superb tonight. Out of the subs that came on, how can you not recognise a certain Marcus Stewart?! He displayed a few excellent touches and also got a few shots in on goal.

Scott Brown was busy, but not hugely effective. As Madger mentions, I think the amount of possession that Clevedon had in comparison to the amount Forest Green had the other night speaks volumes about the two midfields. Brown got up and down well, but never really got his foot on the ball to dictate and control. Equally, Keogh was strong defensively but never looked to control things possession wise.

Stewart showed a couple of nice touches, but didn't by any means stand out from the crowd.

[Ian M]

Scooty Brown was superb tonight. Out of the subs that came on, how can you not recognise a certain Marcus Stewart?! He displayed a few excellent touches and also got a few shots in on goal.

Edit: Well, you seem to have been reminded within the last few minutes. I think I would agree with your rating.

Yep for some reason when copying and pasting from my draft copy I left off the two second half forwards.

I agree MS was easy to recognise, he was the old man sweating profusely just a couple of minutes after entering the field.

[OmegaSnake]

That's a fair report, it was samba that won us the freekick though.

[Nibor]

Thanks for the report Madger.

Great to hear that Santos did well and Williams was using his pace to good effect.

If we end up signing Santos and Williams continues to develop and gets chances from the bench next season we might have the two things I thought we were mostly missing, a left winger and pace...

Here's to hoping.

[Chivs]

I agree MS was easy to recognise, he was the old man sweating profusely just a couple of minutes after entering the field.

Great news - you're saying that I still have a chance of playing for City.

[harpernator06]

I agree Nuno was great but if he was to sign and I hope he does, he might need to brush up on his english skills as from where i was standing, it looked like he couldn't much

[Lordofthebling]

I agree Nuno was great but if he was to sign and I hope he does, he might need to brush up on his english skills as from where i was standing, it looked like he couldn't much

It looked like he couldnt much what? Talk English man!

[southy354]

Well... Basso could help help him learn English and if he does sign we'll have two left wingers when we usually have had none.

[mozo]

CF Williams 8 - Constantly involved and his pace and trickery tore Clevedon apart at times. Unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. Looks physically like Robinho.

Cheers for all that Madger, and thanks particularly for getting Sambamania out of my mind and replacing it with what I interpret as a statement that Jen Williams is better than Robinho. Jenmania, about bloody time!

Stewart showed a couple of nice touches, but didn't by any means stand out from the crowd.

Sums up his City career so far really

[Mad Cyril]

Thought Heywood looked different class.

It will be really interesting who gets the nod as the first choice centre back partnershp this season - I assume it wll start where it left off last season, but as well as Heywood, McCombe has something, and Keogh (albeit playing in midfield at Clevedon) clearly has confidence, and is very vocal. Seems to play with a smile on his face too.

And when you have solved that one, central midfeld needs some hard decisions...

[bcfcnick]

Agreed, I thought Heywood had a good game. He also has a great attitude and is one of those players who adds to team-spirit - a key factor for success of course and something at the top of GJ's list when he brings in players. The first choice centre-back partnership will be Carey and Fontaine and rightly so. Both can fill in at right and left back respectively and with Keogh showing at Clevedon that he can do a holding midfield job I don't think any of these five will be sitting out in the cold all season.

Bizarrely I thought it was Noble from a distance playing right midfield because of the way the player skipped past players with ease in the first-half but it was Danny Wring. He has a bit of quality but with respect to Clevedon, sterner opposition will show if he is ready or not. Both he and Jennison Williams look like they should get a taste of first team football this year. Cotterill will play so it looks like just one space on the left or right from, take your pick, Williams, Wring, Murray and, possibly, the trialist, Santos. Murray will have to be the form player he can be and both he and Jennison will bring the team goals. Did like the look of Santos as well though. Spoilt for choice and with the young players coming through I'm glad GJ hasn't gone mad with too many sgnings in the transfer market.