Bob Taylor’s fourteenth goal of the season was enough to give Bristol City a narrow victory over ten-man Fulham at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
Joe Jordan’s decision to pair Robbie Turner with Taylor instead of the on-loan Andy Jones was totally justified shortly after the half hour mark. Turner flicked on a cross from Mark Gavin, who so tormented Leo Donnellan that the Fulham man was sent off for two bookable offences in the first half, and Taylor hammered home a powerful drive from eighteen yards that proved to be the only goal of the contest.
The visitors should have been out of sight by half time as they played some sublime one-touch football but Taylor was agonisingly close to scoring a first half hat-trick. The in-form forward headed narrowly wide from another Gavin cross and saw a low shot shave the outside of the post as Fulham were fortunate to only be behind by one at the break.
Gary Shelton had a shot blocked at the start of the second half and the home side made light of their numerical advantage to fashion some openings of their own. Winger Clive Walker looked the likeliest source of a leveller but he shot wide twice of the edge of the box as Fulham’s final flurry fell short. Jordan’s side lost their discipline in the closing stages with Paul Wimbleton and Jones introduced from the bench as the Robins were reduced to protecting their slender advantage.
FULHAM: Stannard; Eckhardt, Nebbeling, Marshall, Burns, Scott, Donnellan, Skinner (Mauge 45), Walker, Sayer (Milton 65), Watson.
BOOKED: Sayer, Donnellan, Milton.
SENT OFF: Donnellan.
BRISTOL CITY: Sinclair; Llewellyn, Humphries, Rennie, Bailey, Gavin, Shelton, Newman, Smith (Wimbleton 70), Taylor, Turner (Jones 83).
BOOKED: Shelton.
GOAL: Taylor (32).
REFEREE: George Pooley (Bishop’s Stortford).
ATTENDANCE: 6,089.
