Gloucester City have been creating chances all season and now the results are starting to follow, with a 3-1 win at Hanworth Villa and a place in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round.
Gloucester City have not lacked chances this season, and manager Daf Williams believes the results are about to catch up. A 3-1 win at Hanworth Villa on Saturday gave his side their third league win of the campaign, and they can build on it when Taunton Town visit the KMM Energy Stadium tomorrow night.
It has been a stop-start league season. City lost 1-0 at home to Chertsey Town in their opener, then went down 3-2 at Bracknell Town. They drew at Wimborne Town before a 1-0 home win over Hanwell Town gave them their first victory. A 3-3 draw at Havant & Waterlooville, a 2-1 home loss to Evesham United and a 1-1 draw with Basingstoke Town followed, then a 5-2 win at Malvern Town. That’s 13 points from 10 league games, with the trip to Chichester City postponed.
That opening tells you the shape of the story. What it doesn’t capture is how close City have been to a much better return.
Williams made that point after a 1-1 draw at home to Plymouth Parkway, a side he said was “sitting top of the table”. City had the better of the chances, forcing the visiting keeper into a series of saves and hitting the post twice, before substitute Ethan Dunbar equalised right at the end.
“I’m a little bit frustrated that we haven’t won the game,” Williams said. “I think you’ve only got to watch the game to see the amount of chances, the amount of balls in the box, the attempts on goal that we had, and good attempts as well.”
He was happy to credit Plymouth, describing them as “organised” and “aggressive”, but did not think City should feel lucky to take a point. “We’ve been creating a lot of chances in a lot of games for some time now,” he said. “At the minute, we’re not winning. But there’s a lot of positives to take.”
The biggest positive for Williams was the character shown by his players. “If you’re a Gloucester City player, you fight, you scrap, you battle to the end,” he said. Dunbar, who had scored his first goal for the club in the previous game, embodied that. “He’s a great lad, he loves playing for this football club, and that’s what we need. We need people that are going to fight, scrap and battle for the shirt.”
The cups have been where that spirit has paid off. City drew 1-1 at home with Mangotsfield United in the FA Cup and won the replay 4-0 away. They followed that with a 2-0 win at AFC Totton and a 4-0 FA Trophy qualifying win over Stafford, then a 2-1 win at Mulbarton Wanderers on 3rd October to move into the fourth qualifying round. That is four cup wins in a row, with 12 goals scored and one conceded.
Williams has said the FA Cup matters most. “It’s the FA Cup that obviously benefits the football club financially and really does create potential special memories and experiences for everyone connected to the football club,” he said, while insisting City will not take any competition lightly.
The Tigers will play National League side AFC Barrow next in the FA Cup on 17th October at the Furness Building Society Stadium, with the bluebirds currently in fine form under manager Adam Murray having won all four of their last games.
Taunton will test that resolve first however. They did the double over City last season, winning 2-1 in December in a game where City finished with eight men after three red cards, and 2-0 in Gloucester in April. After Tuesday, City are due to host Bath City on Saturday, then travel to Frome Town on 21st October and Plymouth Parkway on 27th October.
