Cheltenham Town suffered another narrow defeat this evening as Bristol City eliminted them from the Worthington Cup at Ashton Gate.
The Robins matched their higher division opponents - one of the hot promotion favourites in Division Two - and scored a spectacular goal courtesy of Neil Grayson, but headed goals from impressive teenager Kevin Amankwaah and striker Steve Jones sealed their fate.
Robins manager Steve Cotterill handed a first starting appearance to new signing Tony Naylor as Cheltenham went into the game with the same side that finished Saturday's match against Luton Town.
Neil Howarth replaced the injured Steve Jones at right-back with Martin Devaney moved to the left of midfield in place of Hugh McAuley. Neil Grayson replaced Julian Alsop in attack.
Cheltenham made the worst possible start to the game by conceding a goal in only the second minute. City forward Steve Jones touched the ball to Tony Thorpe wide on the left, he checked onto his right foot and crossed to the far post where right wing-back Kevin Amankwaah sent a fine, looping header back across goal and in.
City maintained their strong start to the game and almost went further ahead in the 14th minute when Mickey Bell strode past Neil Howarth and sent a deflected shot across goal that Thorpe was inches away from making contact with just yards from Carl Muggleton's net.
Brian Tinnion then fired a shot just wide from the edge of the box but Cheltenham slowly began to gain composure from that point.
Martin Devaney had the Robins' first shot, a long range effort straight at goalkeeper Mike Stowell, and Michael Duff had a better chance moments later. Devaney did well to draw the defence out of shape and laid the ball back for Mark Yates.
His cross found Duff six yards out but he could not direct his header past Stowell. Yates got in on the act himself with a 30-yarder that had Stowell flying to his right but just missed the posts, although Amankwaah soon popped up in space again, this time blasting over after good work from Thorpe.
City were playing with five in midfield and it was the wide men Bell and Amankwaah that caused most of the problems with the Cheltenham defence already well occupied in tending to dangerous front men Thorpe and Jones.
They enjoyed a lengthy spell of pressure in the minutes leading up to half-time but were almost caught out with a sucker punch when Jamie Victory suddenly charged out of defence with the ball.
He fed Devaney who had switched to the right and his shot was slapped aside by Stowell.
Naylor may not be fully match fit but his movement and awareness in the box were impressive. He made Stowell scramble for another long range shot that missed the target by a narrow margin and then laid the ball off for Devaney to shoot wide.
Shortly before the break Devaney and Grayson were hauled further back to police Bell and Amankwaah with Naylor left as a lone striker.
Half-time: Bristol City 1, Cheltenham 0
City almost began the second half as they had begun the first when Chris Banks mis-timed his jump for a header and the ball fell to Aaron Brown six yards out. He was unable to get the ball under control quickly enough and Muggleton rushed out to smother his shot.
The Robins found themselves under pressure again when Banks fouled Jones on the corner of the box, Bell curling the free-kick inches over the bar, although City boss Danny Wilson made the surprise move of replacing Amankwaah with Scott Murray after 64 minutes.
It may have been a completely unconnected event but only two minutes later Cheltenham grabbed a sensational equalising goal. Duff fouled Bell mid-way inside the City half but Tinnion made a complete mess of the free-kick, knocking a square pass straight into the path of Grayson.
The veteran striker moved forward with the ball, spotted Stowell off his line and then tried his luck with a perfectly measured chip shot, which sailed over the goalkeeper and into the net.
City upped the tempo in response and Murray went close with two efforts before Tinnion, desperate to make amends for his mistake, whistled a shot past the base of a post.
Another burst of pace from Murray took him into the box and his shot was pushed aside by Muggleton, but from the resulting 77th minute corner City restored their lead.
Brown delivered the flag kick and Jones got above the Cheltenham defence to direct a header inside the far post. Richard Walker then had to make a goal-line clearance from a Jones shot and, with five minutes to go, Steve Cotterill made a treble substitution with Jason White, Julian Alsop and Antony Griffin all thrown into the action.
Cheltenham kept the pressure on but were unable to claw a goal back and found themselves knocked out of the Worthington Cup at the first round stage for the third year running.
BRISTOL CITY: Stowell; Carey, Lever, Hill; Amankwaah (Murray 64), Clist (Burnell 87), Tinnion, Brown, Bell; Jones (Matthews 90), Thorpe. Other subs: Hulbert, Attwell.
CHELTENHAM TOWN: Muggleton; Howarth (Griffin 85), Banks, Walker, Victory; M. Duff, Yates, Milton, Devaney (Alsop 85); Naylor, Grayson (White 85). Other subs: Higgs, Jackson.
REFEREE: P. Rejer (Worcestershire)
ATTENDANCE: 5,367
The Robins matched their higher division opponents - one of the hot promotion favourites in Division Two - and scored a spectacular goal courtesy of Neil Grayson, but headed goals from impressive teenager Kevin Amankwaah and striker Steve Jones sealed their fate.
Robins manager Steve Cotterill handed a first starting appearance to new signing Tony Naylor as Cheltenham went into the game with the same side that finished Saturday's match against Luton Town.
Neil Howarth replaced the injured Steve Jones at right-back with Martin Devaney moved to the left of midfield in place of Hugh McAuley. Neil Grayson replaced Julian Alsop in attack.
Cheltenham made the worst possible start to the game by conceding a goal in only the second minute. City forward Steve Jones touched the ball to Tony Thorpe wide on the left, he checked onto his right foot and crossed to the far post where right wing-back Kevin Amankwaah sent a fine, looping header back across goal and in.
City maintained their strong start to the game and almost went further ahead in the 14th minute when Mickey Bell strode past Neil Howarth and sent a deflected shot across goal that Thorpe was inches away from making contact with just yards from Carl Muggleton's net.
Brian Tinnion then fired a shot just wide from the edge of the box but Cheltenham slowly began to gain composure from that point.
Martin Devaney had the Robins' first shot, a long range effort straight at goalkeeper Mike Stowell, and Michael Duff had a better chance moments later. Devaney did well to draw the defence out of shape and laid the ball back for Mark Yates.
His cross found Duff six yards out but he could not direct his header past Stowell. Yates got in on the act himself with a 30-yarder that had Stowell flying to his right but just missed the posts, although Amankwaah soon popped up in space again, this time blasting over after good work from Thorpe.
City were playing with five in midfield and it was the wide men Bell and Amankwaah that caused most of the problems with the Cheltenham defence already well occupied in tending to dangerous front men Thorpe and Jones.
They enjoyed a lengthy spell of pressure in the minutes leading up to half-time but were almost caught out with a sucker punch when Jamie Victory suddenly charged out of defence with the ball.
He fed Devaney who had switched to the right and his shot was slapped aside by Stowell.
Naylor may not be fully match fit but his movement and awareness in the box were impressive. He made Stowell scramble for another long range shot that missed the target by a narrow margin and then laid the ball off for Devaney to shoot wide.
Shortly before the break Devaney and Grayson were hauled further back to police Bell and Amankwaah with Naylor left as a lone striker.
Half-time: Bristol City 1, Cheltenham 0
City almost began the second half as they had begun the first when Chris Banks mis-timed his jump for a header and the ball fell to Aaron Brown six yards out. He was unable to get the ball under control quickly enough and Muggleton rushed out to smother his shot.
The Robins found themselves under pressure again when Banks fouled Jones on the corner of the box, Bell curling the free-kick inches over the bar, although City boss Danny Wilson made the surprise move of replacing Amankwaah with Scott Murray after 64 minutes.
It may have been a completely unconnected event but only two minutes later Cheltenham grabbed a sensational equalising goal. Duff fouled Bell mid-way inside the City half but Tinnion made a complete mess of the free-kick, knocking a square pass straight into the path of Grayson.
The veteran striker moved forward with the ball, spotted Stowell off his line and then tried his luck with a perfectly measured chip shot, which sailed over the goalkeeper and into the net.
City upped the tempo in response and Murray went close with two efforts before Tinnion, desperate to make amends for his mistake, whistled a shot past the base of a post.
Another burst of pace from Murray took him into the box and his shot was pushed aside by Muggleton, but from the resulting 77th minute corner City restored their lead.
Brown delivered the flag kick and Jones got above the Cheltenham defence to direct a header inside the far post. Richard Walker then had to make a goal-line clearance from a Jones shot and, with five minutes to go, Steve Cotterill made a treble substitution with Jason White, Julian Alsop and Antony Griffin all thrown into the action.
Cheltenham kept the pressure on but were unable to claw a goal back and found themselves knocked out of the Worthington Cup at the first round stage for the third year running.
BRISTOL CITY: Stowell; Carey, Lever, Hill; Amankwaah (Murray 64), Clist (Burnell 87), Tinnion, Brown, Bell; Jones (Matthews 90), Thorpe. Other subs: Hulbert, Attwell.
CHELTENHAM TOWN: Muggleton; Howarth (Griffin 85), Banks, Walker, Victory; M. Duff, Yates, Milton, Devaney (Alsop 85); Naylor, Grayson (White 85). Other subs: Higgs, Jackson.
REFEREE: P. Rejer (Worcestershire)
ATTENDANCE: 5,367
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