Scott Twine believes Bristol City can take pride in their performance having gone behind against Wolves, despite being frustrated with the Reds’ FA Cup exit.
Liam Manning’s side fell at the first hurdle of this year’s competition as they were beaten 2-1 by the Premier League side to end a four-match unbeaten run, in all competitions, that had spanned over the festive period.
Rayan Ait-Nouri had given the away side the lead early in the first half and Rodrigo Gomes doubled that advantage shortly after when he lifted the ball over Max O’Leary following a swift attacking move from Vitor Pereira’s team.
For much of the first half, it looked as though the Robins were at risk of being on the receiving end of a heavy defeat and that was a sentiment shared by Twine and his teammates in City colours.
“A lot of frustration I think,” Twine told the City media team when asked for his reflections on the game. “First half I don’t think we were at it on the ball enough.
“They’re obviously a good team and they punished us. They scored two goals, two good goals to be fair to them.”
On the stroke of halftime however, the Reds were thrown a lifeline when Jason Knight was brought down on the edge of the Wolves penalty area. As the away side set up their wall, it was clear that only one player was going to try his luck from this sort of range, with Twine the man to place the ball on the turf and step back.
As he has done since he made the move to Ashton Gate initially on loan 12 months ago, the former Burnley man expertly lifted the ball over the wall and curled past Sam Johnstone and into the top right corner. While City fans are now expecting the 25-year-old to test the goalkeeper from those sorts of dead-ball scenarios, no one appears to be more assured in those situations than Twine himself.
“I’ll always back myself over a free-kick so I’m happy whenever I get a free-kick around that range,” smiled the attacking midfielder. “I’m confident that I’ll score and thankfully today, it went in.
“Obviously I see where the keeper is as well sometimes. I know what I’m doing from that range, it’s just hopefully getting a good connection and letting the ball do the work.”
Twine’s fifth goal of the season certainly gave Bristol City a lift ahead of the second half and Manning’s side put in a much improved performance in the second half, even coming close to forcing extra-time with a couple of dangerous pieces of attacking play.
Wolves themselves had good chances to put the game to bed as well. Second-half substitute Pablo Sarabia rattled the post with a long-range effort but perhaps the best opportunity of the game landed at the feet of Hwang Hee-Chan. A beautiful cross from the left flank evaded all of the Reds’ backline and landed at the feet of the South Korean attacker who had all the time in the world to pick his spot, but instead lofted the ball into the South Stand.
It seemed as though the Robins were going to make Vitor Pereira’s side regret that error when a combination of Ross McCrorie and his marker got on the end of Twine’s free-kick in the closing exchanges. Unfortunately for City, Wolves’ crossbar somehow kept the ball out to ensure it was the top-flight team who booked their place in the fourth round. Though Twine was disappointed to not find that all-important leveller, he felt he and his teammates could be “proud” of their second-half showing.
“They defended well to be fair. Our final ball maybe could have been better but they defended the box well,” admitted the City scorer. “They’re obviously Premier League players so they know what they’re doing.
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“We had a couple of chances at the end but just not quite enough, unfortunately. I thought second half, we came out and showed some real fight and belief and I think when you show that, especially at home, it means a lot. We obviously created some chances second half but we couldn’t get the final shot on goal.
“I’m proud of how we came back from 2-0 down, it’s not easy to do that so there are positives to take from it too.”
With no midweek game on the agenda and the FA Cup now no longer up for grabs, Bristol City’s focus returns to the Championship and this Saturday’s trip to the CBS Arena to face Coventry City. The Sky Blues have had a mixed start to the season and currently sit 16th in the Championship, just six points clear of the relegation zone.
The Robins on the other hand come into this weekend’s game off of the back of an impressive festive period which saw them claim 10 of a possible 12 points and Twine is keen to extend that run further against Frank Lampard’s side.
“We look forward to every game,” he said. “We know every game is going to be difficult as well, especially away from home so we’ll push again next week and hopefully we’ll get the three points.”