It is set to be another big afternoon of National League football this weekend, as two of the highest scoring teams in the division face off at Bristol Road on Sunday.
With only five points separating the top six sides, the competition is now on to challenge Cheltenham Town at the top.
Portishead Town are newly promoted to the National League division in which City play. With two curtailed seasons, the Football Association took applications for promotion over the summer, with the North Somerset side successfully obtaining upward movement. Town are a good example of the difficulty faced by Clubs over the past eighteen months, having only played 10 league fixtures in that time.
Managed by Chip Wright and Meg Hardy, Portishead have made a competitive start to life in the National League. An opening day defeat by Maidenhead United was overcome as the North Somerset side embarked on a five game unbeaten run.
Wins at Larkhall and Buckland were accompanied by a home win over Poole Town and impressive drawn fixtures against Swindon and Chesham United. The Possets saw that run ended on Wednesday evening with a defeat at Cheltenham Town, however they did score first at the league leaders and only went down to a narrow 2-1 loss.
Rosie Hill and Shannon Holloway have both starred for Portishead in the first quarter of the season, Holloway starring with a hat trick at Buckland, whilst top scorer Hill put Town ahead with a fantastic strike in their defeat on Wednesday evening.
The two sides met as recently as July, on a particularly warm summer afternoon, both sides worked tirelessly with the Grecians coming out on top thanks to goals from Esme Kilburn-Thompson and Connie Pengelly in a pre-season fixture.
Wins against Buckland and Larkhall Athletic have put Abbie Britton and Aaron Wakley’s side back amongst the leading pack and victory in North Somerset would certainly further send the signal to the rest of the National League that City are serious contenders heading into the autumn.
With a showcase Devon County Cup tie against Plymouth Argyle at St James Park up next, an FA Cup qualifier and League fixture at Swindon’s County Ground all to follow, October is going to be an exciting time for the squad and growing support.