The Lilywhites eight game unbeaten run was brought to an end by high flying Boro’ but Gary Roberts team will come away from Manor Park hugely disappointed that they didn’t get at least a share of the points from this entertaining New Year’s Day fixture.

Whilst City welcomed back ‘flu victim Matt Langston both Jamie Godbold (illness) and Stuart Niven (unavailability) were missing from the team that started the Boxing Day clash with Grantham. As a result skipper Lee Pluck moved from the centre of defence to right back and Carl Williams, signed on a non-contract basis from Hitchin made his debut on the right hand side of midfield.

Simon Martin flicks the ball on to Danny Bloomfield

The home side settled quickly and put the City goal under significant pressure in the opening stages. As early as the second minute Michael Brown played a neat reverse pass from the edge of the box into the path of Matthew Collins forcing Martin Davies to dive at his feet. The loose ball ballooned goalwards but Matt Langston did enough to prevent Neil Moore, who was following in, from finding the net.

One of a number of corners, taken by Gary Fitzpatrick from the right saw a partially cleared ball fall at the feet of Brown but the striker snatched at the chance and fired over. Moments later the menacing Gez Murphy got the better of Matt Langston on the City right before finding Brown but he only managed to head tamely at Davies when well placed.

Having weathered the early storm City then enjoyed a purple patch of their own. Danny Bloomfield switched play from right to left picking out Louis Riddle who in turn laid the ball into the edge of the box where Carl Williams did well to hold off the challenging defenders and set up Simon Martin for a shot that was partly blocked before rolling through to Darren Acton. Moments later referee Miller awarded a ‘bounce-up’ on the edge of the Boro’ area after the ball became trapped under the legs of Leon Drysdale. From the re-start the ball came to Simon Martin who played a neat return to Danny Bloomfield who, despite being off balance, still fired off a goal bound shot which was deflected behind for a corner.

Moments later the visitors could and should have taken the lead. Showing good awareness from right back Lee Pluck angled a long aerial pass into the edge of the area which Martin collected with his back to goal. Showing good close control to turn away from Mark Clifford the loanee striker had only Acton to beat but agonisingly screwed the ball across the face of goal from some eight yards out.

Nuneaton’s tactics were simple but effective as they looked to play the ball early to Murphy at every opportunity. Just after the twenty minute mark the striker who has already bagged ten goals this season slipped Pluck but Martin Davies stood up, narrowing the angle and averting any danger in the process.

Rob Miller takes on Nuneaton's Michael Brown

Martin, who held the ball up effectively, came wide to receive another pass from Pluck and laid the ball inside for Williams whose first time shot had Acton scrambling on the floor to make an excellent reflex save, as Riddle homed in on the rebound the former Tamworth ‘keeper got hands to the ball once more to foil City. The Lilywhites were on top at this point but desperately needed to turn the advantage into goals. With just over half an hour gone a Lee Pluck free kick found its way to Riddle wide on the left. The former West Ham winger unleashed a first time shot which was arrowing towards the top right hand corner of the net before Acton flew across his goal to cling on.

Murphy was still a thorn in City’s side, collecting a driven through ball from Clifford he fired into the side netting via a deflection off Matt Langston.

Almost inevitably Boro’ ended the spell of City dominance by breaking the deadlock. With seven minutes of the half remaining the Lilywhites conceded possession from their own throw in on the left and Nuneaton worked the ball quickly across the park to the opposite flank. Murphy and Fitzpatrick combined to create a shooting opportunity for Neil Moore. The former Burnley player raced forward and with a clear sight of goal from some twenty yards out smashed an unstoppable left foot drive high into the roof of the net beyond a despairing Martin Davies.

City bounced back to end the half on a high coming within an ace of levelling at the interval. A good cross field passing movement saw the ball moved from left to right where, spotting the angled run of Martin, Pluck played in a lofted ball to the near post. Getting ahead of his marker Martin glanced a header towards the bottom corner of Acton’s net. At full stretch the ‘keeper got a hand to the ball and deflected it onto his upright before it was hacked to safety.

The visitors started the second period in much the same way as they had ended the first and some seven minutes in scored a deserved equaliser. The industrious Rob Miller won the ball wide on the right and seeing Danny Bloomfield peel away through the inside right channel placed a perfectly weighted ground pass into his path. Skipping across the top of the heavy surface City’s top scorer appeared to have delayed his shot too long as he was forced wide to the left, however checking back inside he wrong-footed Clifford before sliding his shot expertly under Acton for his 24th goal of the season.

Stung into life by the leveller Nuneaton came close to regaining the lead a couple of minutes later. Fitzpatrick, whose accurate delivery from corner kicks was a constant threat, found the head of Dion Scott who timed his run into the box to perfection to send the ball crashing against the face of the crossbar. A relieved City back line were happy to see the loose ball deflected behind.

Simon Martin holds off Terry Angus

With the game just under an hour old City had the chance to complete the recovery and snatch the lead. Martin won a free kick on the very edge of the area. The alert Miller took the place kick quickly, finding Louis Riddle who had ghosted in unmarked but with Danny Bloomfield screaming for a centre the Lilywhites winger elected to shoot and fired over the bar.

Home boss Alan Lewer decided the best way to pin City back was to introduce another striker. Mark Clifford was replaced by Milton Road old-boy Darren Collins as Nuneaton switched to a 3-4-3 formation. The tactical change paid dividends some ten minutes later as ‘Boro scored a second and decisive goal.

City still looked comfortable and arguably the more likely to score the next goal, however, they again failed to deal with a routine through ball and paid the ultimate price. Drysdale struck a low driven pass through the inside right channel. City seemed to be defending very high up the pitch and as a result Murphy was able to spin off Lee Summerscales and leave the defender in his wake before bearing down on goal, firing across an exposed Martin Davies and in.

The Liywhites never recovered and failed to pose an attacking threat for the remainder of the match despite a double switch which saw Robbie Simpson and Lee Chaffey replace Riddle and Summerscales respectively. Simpson played as a third striker but Nuneaton successfully dominated possession to such an extent that he was unable to make an impression. Danny Williams replaced Murphy as Nuneaton ran down the clock with the minimum of fuss and secured all three points.

It’s a measure of how far City have come that losing to the team who went second in the table after this victory is seen as an opportunity lost. Going forward City were always a threat but further disruption to the back line was all too evident on occasions although Lee Chaffey looked solid in the 15 minutes he was given. Gary Roberts will be hoping that he is soon able to return to the settled line up that brought so much success during November and December because providing he has a full squad to choose from there is no reason why City can’t go toe to toe with the best in this division.