2023 is underway at Ashton Gate for Bristol City and after a first half missing the typical fireworks of a new year, Bristol City earnt themselves an FA Cup replay after a 1-1 draw with Swansea City.
Swansea's opener after 15 minutes brought with it a feeling of deflation that has become all too familiar in BS3, with the home crowd having last seen their side win at the Gate in October.
There was little to suggest during that first 45 minutes, but Nigel Pearson once again found a way to fight back from the brink, changing formation and then personnel to not only keep the Wembley dream alive but earn some more credit with the fanbase.
Three wins in 20 games do make for grim reading on the face of it (as many have and will continue to point out) yet another way of framing form is that they've only lost two of their last seven matches. But City and Pearson know they need results, points and (hopefully) cup progression sooner rather than later, it felt a lot closer now than it did on Boxing Day.
With a home game against Birmingham City next and then the replay in South Wales, City have a chance to turn those performances into results and cash in those better performances.
Before those games, however, here are the moments missed from the FA Cup Third Round at Ashton Gate.
Ticket trouble at the Gate
While a fixture against a side that you’ll already have to face twice this season doesn’t exactly scream "magic of the cup", Ashton Gate had a few moments on Sunday that resembled the feel of a lower league clash and not just on the pitch.
As the 12,000-strong crowd attempted to enter Ashton Gate there were problems with the turnstiles being unable to read people’s tickets and let them into the concourse, causing long queues and delays outside the ground.
Due to an issue with the printers, those who bought tickets on the day were given handwritten tickets that were then checked by stewards on the turnstiles to ensure as few supporters as possible would miss kick-off.
A statement on the club’s official website read: “The club would like to sincerely apologise for the delays encountered by some supporters in getting into the ground for today’s 1-1 draw against Swansea City.
“The delays were caused by our ticketing server and back-up servers failing and our staff having to issue manual tickets for pay-on-the-day and to those who purchased online after the server outage.”
With the sloppy start from the Robins, anyone who was left stranded in the queue can at least have the satisfaction that City saved their best spell for the second half.
Although credit should also go to SLO Jerry Tocknell and the ticketing staff for doing their utmost amid all the IT challenges and obstacles for getting people their tickets and into their seats as quickly and as safely as possible, given the issues.
Han-Noah and the injury team in situ
It’s been very clear from Pearson that a January exit would probably be the best result for both Han-Noah Massengo and Bristol City and while plenty of fans will be missing the sight of the midfielder in BS3, the French youngster was in attendance on Sunday.
Slightly harder to spot than usual thanks to his hood covering his particularly massive hair, Massengo made his way to the seats behind the dugout just after kick-off alongside Stefan Bajic.
Also spotted was Tomas Kalas who has been an ever-present figure in the Lansdown Stand this season but is getting closer to a return from injury, as well as both Ayman Benarous and Kane Wilson with neither sporting any crutches or braces.
In October, Pearson suggested Wilson would be out of action for around four months with hopes of having the former Forest Green Rovers man available in the new year. Injuries have limited his ability to make an impact yet in the red of City, but as arguably the only out-and-out right wing-back in the club surely his return will be a huge positive.
From 2-0 down to level at 1-1
It was hard to believe that City had managed to get into the break only 1-0 down after what was up there with Boxing Day’s visit from West Brom as one of the worst performances of the campaign so far.
But in a second half where the home side were in the ascendency it never really felt like the Swans would score again. Semenyo’s leveller was just what City deserved for their efforts, so it was rather confusing when both big screens in the corners of Ashton Gate displayed the visitors were two goals to the good.
It didn’t matter too much to those inside the stadium, especially a group of fans that had flocked to block E34 to be a bit closer to the Swansea fans who created an impressive noise for what was one of the smaller crowds inside the Gate this season.
This was the second issue of the day on the screens after, for the first time in the history of Higher or Lower, a contestant guessed wrongly, having answered higher to Joe William’s number eight shirt only for Alex Scott’s seven to appear.
Unlike City’s recent home record on the pitch, stadium announcer Ian Downs managed to maintain the 100 per cent of Higher and Lower success by quickly prompting a change of answer in a similar vein to Semenyo’s heroics.
Referees in focus again
Craig Pawson and his refereeing team were the latest set of officials to leave Ashton Gate having been criticised by Pearson this season after they turned down a number of relatively clear penalty appeals.
But the City bench was frustrated long before any penalty shouts as Semenyo was called offside in the opening exchanges before Swansea took the free-kick 10 yards inside the City half in line with where the forward had taken possession. Fans favourite and fourth official Keith Stroud defused the situation by explaining the decision to the exasperated City bench.
Ultimately, it offered the Swans a limited advantage as they opted to continue their possession-based style, but it was the early demonstration of a lack of authority from the Premier League official.
What was possibly the most bizarre of the penalty appeals came in the second half when Alex Scott was seemingly barged/headbutted by Nathan Wood after Nahki Wells was pushed in the area.
While Wood was booked for his part in proceedings (which when viewed on the highlights Pawson can’t actually see) neither piece of action was deemed worthy of a penalty, taking it to 428 days, and counting, since City last earned a spot kick.
Semenyo loves January
It seems to be quite easy to tell when Semenyo is at his best as everything he touches turns into goals. Across the last two games there has been an element of more control and elegance to his finishing.
Far too often City fans have seen the Ghanaian forward get into good positions only to seemingly overhit his effort and pose more damage to those sat behind the goal than the net.
But with both his finishes away to Coventry and Sunday’s cup outing, there has been the ruthlessness in front of goal that was seen at the back end of the last campaign. Even Pearson joked after the final whistle, “It didn’t look the most powerful header in the world, but it went in so there’s the beauty of hitting the target.”
It’s also interesting to note how impressive Semenyo’s record in January has been for City, last season the striker managed three goals and three assists and with only two games played this year he’s already found the net twice.
Sadly, that record probably ensures that anyone monitoring the forward for a potential January move will be more interested, but it will also only aid City raise their asking price.
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