City still look some way from guaranteed Conference football next season as Nuneaton put their recent poor run behind them to complete a league double over the Lilywhites.

With Stuart Niven injured at Eastbourne on Saturday and both Rob Nightingale and Richard Scott likely to be sidelined for the rest of the season Lee Pluck was drafted into a threadbare midfield with Michael Shinn confined to the bench and Peter Costello yet to feature since signing from Stevenage on deadline day. For the visitors Kevin Wilkin was making his second Milton Road return of the season, having scored the opener for Grantham on Boxing Day.

Robbie Simpson feels the weight of a challenge

Nuneaton were looking to put Saturday’s disappointing defeat at the hands of Chelmsford behind them and started with some purpose. With City on the back foot Borough forced a succession of early corners but failed to test Martin Davies.

Having weathered the storm the Lilywhites enjoyed a decent spell of their own. Robbie Simpson was fouled on the left and from Carl Williams resultant free kick Lloyd Blackman was narrowly off target with a header. The pair combined again in City’s next attack, on this occasion Williams played in Rob Miller through the inside left channel which allowed the ever-present midfielder to unleash a first-time curling shot which had Darren Acton scrambling to turn the ball around his left hand upright.

With Simpson finding space behind Robert Oddy he collected a through ball and angled a cross back in towards Blackman but Neil Moore was alert to the danger and cleared at the expense of a corner.

With City still looking the most likely scorers Miller seized on a error by Brian McGorry to race down the left and slide a pass into Simpson who had again got behind the Borough rearguard, on this occasion he picked out Williams who saw his shot blocked at point blank range.

With just over 20 minutes of the game gone City were punished for their failure to convert their chances as the visitors snatched the lead with a soft goal. Lee Chaffey was forced to concede a corner under pressure. Stuart Whittaker swung in the place kick from the Nuneaton left, Martin Davies came but never got to the centre and as the ball bounced Gez Murphy, scorer of the winning goal when the two sides met on New Year’s Day, was first to react, hooking home at the far post.

City spurned a glorious chance to level immediately from the restart. Robbie Simpson sliced through the centre of a Nuneaton defence which had failed to switch on in the wake of the goal. As the pitch opened up in front of the teenage striker he played in Lloyd Blackman, clear on goal some fifteen yards out, the Brentford loanee snatched at the opportunity however, firing wide with a first time effort when he appeared to have the time to take an extra touch.

Blackman soon put the disappointment behind him as the Lilywhites levelled the scores with their next attack. Craig Pope played an intelligent through ball into the feet of Williams, this time finding an alarming amount of space behind the visitors’ left back position. The former Hitchin player flighted a cross towards the far post where Louis Riddle was on hand to head powerfully back across goal into the path of Blackman who gratefully lashed the ball home from close range.

Louis Riddle heads back across goal to set up City's equaliser

With the Nuneaton back line illustrating why they have conceded eleven goals in their last three outings City sensed the opportunity to seize the initiative. The influential Williams was again the provider whipping in an early cross from the right which fell invitingly for Riddle whose first time left foot strike looked destined to give the Lilywhites the lead before Acton reacted smartly to drop to his left and palm the ball off the line, Neil Moore completing the clearance with Blackman closing in.

Disasterously for City they then conceded a second goal. In a carbon copy of the incident which lead to Moor Green’s goal in the last game at Milton Road, Robert Oddy found himself with far too much space wide on the Nuneaton right, given time to measure his delivery he angled an excellent centre in towards Wilkin who used all his experience to beat Chaffey in the air and power a trademark header into the top right hand corner of Martin Davies’ net, leaving his former team mate rooted to the line.

Borough thought they had extended their lead when Murphy netted but he was correctly adjudged to have fouled Chaffey in the build-up. As tempers frayed towards the end of the half Michael Brown collected a caution, presumably for dissent, following a challenge on Riddle. He was soon to be followed into Mr Beevor’s notebook by Murphy, who, apparently still aggrieved at having a goal chalked off, clumsily felled Lewis Baillie having tangled with Martin Davies only moments before.

Lewis Baillie appeared to be struggling with a knock and he failed to appear after the interval, Tony Battersby taking his place, a move which triggered wholesale changes to City’s formation. Lee Pluck dropped back to form a defensive three with Matt Langston and Lee Chaffey. This allowed Craig Pope to push forward on the right, Carl Williams moving inside to partner Miller, Battersby forming a three pronged attack with Simpson and Blackman.

With the Lilywhites struggling to come to terms with the new system they did well to survive the opening exchanges only one goal adrift. Conceding a series of corners it was Stuart Whittaker who again turned provider for the visitors. His accurate delivery from the right was met by a thumping Neil Moore header which forced Martin Davies into a quality save, going full length to tip the ball over the bar and deny the former Burnley defender. When Whittaker whipped in another place kick (this time from the left) it was Wilkin who characteristically steered his header goalwards, only to be denied by a post.

Craig Pope was proving effective in an advanced role and after good work by Simpson he played Battersby in on the right of the box with a perfectly weighted pass. The former Lincoln City striker drove the ball powerfully across the six yard box with the flying Blackman inches away from connecting.

City certainly looked capable of troubling an uneasy Nuneaton back line, Carl Williams free kick was only partially cleared, Rob Miller first to the loose ball volleying powerfully from the edge of the box although it was unclear whether Lloyd Blackman’s glancing header, which ended up going just over the bar, diverted a goal bound shot.

Ten minutes into the half goal scorer Gez Murphy was forced to withdraw from the action with a shoulder injury collected when he fell awkwardly under challenge from Pope, his replacement, Simeon Williams, had been on the field for a matter of seconds when he benefited from a deft Wilkin flick to race clear but slid his shot wide of the target when well placed to work Davies.

Lloyd Blackman receives a push in the back from Robert Oddy

Once Nuneaton had adjusted to City’s tactical switch they tightened up considerably at the back with the experienced Terry Angus dominant in the air. As Borough consolidated their lead, the Lilywhites only real threat appeared to be coming from set plays. It was from one of these, a Lee Pluck free kick, that Battersby glanced a header inches wide of the target with fifteen minutes remaining.

At this point that Gary Roberts introduced Danny Bloomfield in an attempt to bolster a faltering attack, the hard working Robbie Simpson withdrawn although Lloyd Blackman appeared equally tired by this stage.

With Bloomfield’s intelligent running and positional play it wasn’t long before gaps started to appear. Blackman collected Lee Pluck’s throw and played a neat one-two with Pope, collecting the return just inside the area he shot with the outside of his right boot, curling the ball around a defender and agonisingly wide of Acton’s right hand post with the former Tamworth custodian struggling to make his ground.

As City pushed for a leveller, Battersby, who held the ball up well and brought others into the game to good effect, played in Riddle in the outside left position. The former Stevenage winger hit a swinging first time cross which at first appeared too powerful only for the ball to arch perfectly onto the head of Bloomfield at the far post, but at a stretch, the Lilywhites’ top scorer headed over the angle of post and bar.

With Roger Ashby attempting to run down the clock, Wilkin, job done, was withdrawn from the action to be replaced by James Fox.

Nuneaton delivered the killer blow with two minutes remaining, with Matt Langston pushed forward the visitors broke away and powered through an undermanned rearguard. Michael Brown, with options, chose to lay the ball wide to his right into the path of Williams whose progress was halted by a tug at his shirt from Riddle, providing emergency cover in the left back position. Gary Fitzpatrick converted the resultant penalty, sending Martin Davies right as the ball rippled the net to his left.

If that wasn’t bad enough for the home side there was still time for defensive rock and skipper Matt Langston to go down with an ankle injury which required lengthy treatment and prevented his return to the action, Lee Summerscales filling in until Mr Beevor put the Lilywhites out of their misery by bringing proceedings to a close.

With the middle third of the league looking increasingly congested this result throws City right back into the mix with the next three games against teams also scrambling for a top thirteen finish before they travel to Worcester for a tough looking last day fixture. Whilst the Lilywhites were uncharacteristically generous at the back today it’s their inability to put teams to the sword at the other end of the pitch that remains the main cause for concern. Despite playing with three strikers for half of this match City again failed to score more than once in a league game at Milton Road, something they haven’t achieved since Crawley were the visitors back in October.

So far this season, City have shown the grit and tenacity to bounce back from disappointing results, a trend that needs to continue when they visit Newport next Saturday.