A second-half super strike from makeshift midfielder Lewis Baillie salvaged a point for City as they struggled to a disappointing draw with 10-man Weston, a result which leaves both teams bogged down in the congested middle third of the Doctor Marten’s League table with the scramble for qualification to next season’s Conference likely to go the last day of the season.

With Richard Scott passing a late fitness test and Tony Battersby making his first start Lee Pluck was restored to the centre of defence, Lee Chaffey moving across to left back and Lewis Baillie drafted into midfield.

The Lilywhites started reasonably well, Pluck looked much happier in his preferred position and Chaffey settled immediately into his wide berth. Added to that the physical presence offered by Baillie in the centre combined with the quality of Scott’s passing gave the team a much more balanced look than in the previous home game against Nuneaton.

Up front Battersby’s ability to hold the ball and play in his team mates allowed City to dominate the opening exchanges. With just under a quarter of an hour gone Williams combined with Battersby to feed Baillie in the inside left position. Showing good awareness the former Heybridge Swifts player slid a reverse pass into the feet of Lloyd Blackman who was unmarked some ten yards from goal. The Brentford loanee appeared to be caught in two minds however and his attempted centre across the face of goal was gathered comfortably by Anthony Malessa at his near post.

Weston, who had offered little as an attacking force up until that point responded by working the ball down their right where Jon French found Stuart Slater who in turn squared to Marc MeGregor on the edge of the box but the striker poked his shot harmlessly wide of the target.

As Weston probed again there seemed no danger until disaster struck for Martin Davies, gifting the visitors a lead their contribution to the game had hardly warranted. McGregor’s speculative poke at goal appeared to present Davies with a routine opportunity to gather the ball in, however an uncharacteristic fumble saw it slip from his grasp and land at the feet of a disbelieving David Gilroy who even then under-hit a shot which narrowly eluded a recovering Lee Pluck before trickling into the net. City’s popular ‘keeper was left with his head in his hands, the potential consequences of the error not lost on the experienced custodian.

The Lilywhites, who have looked short on confidence in recent weeks seemed further deflated by the incident and errors began to creep into their play as they ceased to threaten as an attacking force for the remainder of the half. Stuart Slater came closest to capitalising as he cut inside from the Weston left, making the most of the inexplicable amount of room he was allowed before unleashing a dipping drive which the grateful Davies grabbed at the second attempt.

Fortunately for the home side Weston lacked the quality to capitalise on City’s frailties and neither team posed a serious goal threat for the remainder of the period. The only other incident of note saw Lewis Hogg collect a yellow card for dragging Baillie to the ground after the Lilywhites player had powered past his opponent in a midfield exchange.

Gary Roberts resisted the temptation to change things at the interval. As City looked for an early response Chaffey sent Williams clear down the left, the former Hitchin player whipping in a near post centre which was just too high for Battersby allowing Malessa to collect.

As Weston countered Hogg combined with McGregor down the right before setting up a shooting chance for Gilroy who saw his first time drive blocked by Chaffey at the expense of a corner.

With Scott’s quality, City always posed something of a threat from set pieces and the former Peterborough midfielder’s 51st minute corner was expertly flighted onto the head of Lee Pluck, but despite finding space the tall central defender headed wide of the target.

Although lacking in match fitness Tony Battersby still showed touches of class which illustrated why he spent many years in the professional game. Ten minutes into the half he angled an accurate cross field pass into the feet of the advancing Craig Pope whose low centre fell perfectly into the path of Williams who had more time than he may have realised, as a result he took the ball early and fired wide when well placed to force Malessa into action.

In City’s next attack they were rewarded for stepping up the pace after the interval. Baillie, a refreshing addition to City’s midfield, powered through the inside left channel before laying the ball wide to Williams, taking Hogg completely out of the play in the process. The alert Williams spotted his team mate’s continuing run and bent his low centre around the last defender and into the feet of Baillie who took one touch before unleashing an unstoppable drive which would probably have taken Malessa into the net with it had he managed to get in the way.

With a third of the game still to go City went looking for a winner and were soon to squander an excellent opportunity to grab the lead. Battersby made the most of William Clark’s misjudgement to bear down on goal, he was held up by the recovering Jarman but retained possession until Blackman was able to get forward in support, however his eventual pass was either mis-placed or alternatively his strike partner should have read the situation and taken up a better position, either way the ball slid harmlessly behind Malessa’s goal and the chance was gone.

This was to be Blackman’s last involvement, having got little change out of the physically imposing Clark and Jarman he had endured a frustrating evening and was replaced by Danny Bloomfield. In response Frank Gregan withdrew goal scorer Gilroy and introduced Paul Hunt.

With just under twenty minutes remaining Pluck rose well to power Miller’s corner goalwards but Malessa was well placed to clutch the ball underneath his crossbar.

As Gary Roberts sought the illusive winner, Richard Scott, still struggling for full match fitness, made way for Louis Riddle. However, it was Weston who came closet to breaking the deadlock in the closing stages. Clark’s pin-point centre found Hunt, ghosting in at the far post on Lee Pluck’s blindside but the former Forest Green player failed to find the target when he should have at least forced a save from Davies.

With ten minutes remaining City again broke with purpose forcing a corner on the right but before it could be taken referee Mr Barnes was called over by his assistant who had flagged in relation to an off the ball incident involving Carl Williams and Lewis Hogg. After a lengthy lecture each player was shown a yellow card, Hogg’s second so it was therefore followed by a red and an early exit from proceedings.

The final minutes were scrappy and disjointed, neither side offering enough to suggest they warranted scoring a winner. Weston successfully broke up the play by introducing their two remaining substitutes, Mark Cherry and Stephen Benton (for Stuart Slater and Mark McKeever respectively). The only other incident of note coming two minutes from time when Louis Riddle’s reckless challenge on Clark sparked a mass stand off and earned the City winger a yellow card.

City’s home form continues to disappoint and they have to hope that they can somehow fashion only their second Milton Road league win of 2004 on Saturday when Tiverton are their last scheduled visitors of the season, otherwise they face the unenviable task of needing to come away from Worcester with all three points on the final day of the regular season in order to stand a chance of a top thirteen finish.