Gloucester City 2, Evesham United 1

IT'S time to concentrate on the league after a below par United crashed out of the AXA Sponsored FA Cup on Saturday.

That was the verdict of the players after Gloucester, without a home win this season, clinched their place in the second qualifying round with a late winner.

However, that's two defeats on the trot on the knockout trail and vital momentum lost ahead of two tough Western Division fixtures.

One of the game's most prestigious competitions is important - both in terms of publicity and cash. It was a weak excuse to say the game "didn't really matter - it's only the FA Cup."

What does matter is that Phil Mullen's charges get the last two matches out of the system if last season's slump isn't going to be amazingly repeated.

And, what the players need to do is to concentrate on what they are good at - playing football and not becoming involved in petty squabbles with opponents.

Sam Bowen struck his seventh goal in five games but then spent much of the second half in a slanging - and punching - match with Kacey Johnstone.

It is understood the pair also clashed in the tunnel after the game on an instantly forgettable afternoon for the visitors.

Bowen and Dean Roberts faded from the action after the break, while Steve Taylor and Steve McCartan were both lacking their usual sharpness and finesse.

Prised open

But, what should worry the Common Road manager most was the way in which his central defenders - not for the first time - were prised open time after time from the most innocuous of attacks.

Gloucester, it appeared, threatened every time they went forward and it's something Mullen must remedy very quickly.

An error from Jay Powell allowed Karl Bayliss to slide the hosts into a 12th minute lead and the scorer should really have doubled the lead when he directed a free header wide seven minutes later.

Evesham relied on shots from distance to raise murmurs in the City rearguard and the first of these on target levelled the tie.

The ball was rolled sideways to Bowen, whose 20-yarder was deflected past Ally Hines off the inside of a post.

Darren Beattie's same left hand upright came to his rescue five minutes later when, on the stroke of half time, a corner from Paul Chenoweth rebounded to safety.

Andy Smith twice came close to giving the visitors the lead after the restart, while Mark Wolsey's trickery led to Richard Moore hacking clear from inside the City six-yard area.

Midway through the half, Bowen's dead-ball skills were again to the fore but Hines tipped over a thunderous 25-yard free kick.

Beattie produced two crucial stops in the space of three minutes to silence the home support. Three players appeared yards offside before the Evesham keeper spread himself to block Moore's point-blank effort on 70 minutes.

Three minutes later, Beattie bettered that with a brilliant tip over to keep out Chenoweth's strike after more sloppy defending.

However, Beattie was helpless after 76 minutes when a Wayne Thorne free kick was flicked on by Bayliss and the unmarked Andy Tucker poked in the winner.

An unseemly brawl three minutes later set the scene for a frantic final ten minutes as United sought an equaliser.

Taylor's stoppage time drive was deflected over, Thorne headed clear from underneath his own crossbar following a Wolsey corner, while McCa-rtan's half-volley ballooned over the top to leave visiting fans totally deflated by their side's performance.