Bath City (1)1 Poole Town (0)0

Bath City recorded their first victory of the season at Twerton Park with a battling performance against a physical Poole Town side. The hosts were forced to defend resolutely in the latter stages as the necessity to make all three of their available substitutions inside the first forty minutes ensured there were some tired legs as the final whistle approached.

The game commenced with Poole enjoying the vast majority of the midfield possession with City struggling to gain a foothold in proceeding. Consequently, the earlier chances fell to the visitors, the first of whilst arrived in the 6th minute. A cross from the left narrowly eluded the head of Tony Lee who was virtually unmarked in front of goal, and four minutes later the same player just failed to apply a telling touch to Corby Moore’s delivery from the other flank.

The Romans’ injury woes started on 12 minutes when skipper Frankie Artus was forced from the field following lengthy treatment and was replaced by Jack Compton. Poole’s dominance of possession, however, continued and Will Spetch nodded over Luke Southwood’s crossbar from Steve Devlin’s curling free kick into the area.

The 19th minute saw Jez Bedford’s rasping rising drive from distance just clear the home crossbar, but City finally created an opening of their own on 21 minutes. Connor Lemonheigh-Evans slipped the ball through to Marvin Morgan, but the lofty striker sliced his effort wide of the near post from a good position. Four minutes later, Lemonheigh-Evans’ involvement was ended following a particularly heavy and awkward challenge by Devlin that resulted in the Cityman being stretchered from the pitch with what appeared to be a worryingly serious injury.

Jamie Lucas was introduced and, despite the disruption to the make-up of the side, Bath gradually came more into the game. With six minutes left on the clock before the interval Morgan produced some good work and found Nick McCootie in space on the right hand side of the box, who cut inside fire only to fire his angled drive over the Town crossbar.

City suffered a further blow on 40 minutes when the injured Billy Murphy was substituted by Darren Jones, and Gary Owers was forced to reshuffle his pack once again, moving both George Rigg and Anthony Straker into midfield roles, with the back four now consisting of Ryan Case, Jack Batten, Jones and Dan Ball.

To their credit the home side continued their period of ascendancy and took the lead after 42 minutes. A beautifully weighted through ball by Compton released Morgan, who confidently drove his shot into the far corner of the net beyond the despairing dive of Nick Hutchings.

On the stroke of half time, Straker made good ground towards the Poole box and picked out Lucas with his pass, but the striker’s goalbound shot was blocked by a defender.

The second period saw City take charge of proceedings as they began to put the Dolphins’ defence unto increasing pressure. Compton’s powerful free kick from 30 yards in the 52nd minute narrowly cleared the bar, much to the relief of Hutchings.

Compton was becoming increasing influential and the quality of his delivery into the danger area was constantly troubling the Poole rearguard, and his 57th minute corner almost provided a goal for his side. The ball fell to Lucas beyond the far post and his shot on the turn was pushed round the post by Hutchings and, from the resulting corner, Batten drove his shot straight at the grateful keeper from 10 yards.

Lucas made his way to the right hand byline and crossed to the onrushing Compton, only for his first time volley to fly wide of the far post.

Whilst the hosts continued to hold the upper hand, McCootie was clearly struggling badly with a muscle injury but, to his huge credit, he was still causing problems down the right wing. On 77 minutes, he bustled into the away box and was barged to the floor by Spetch, but the referee, Mr. David Spain of Hastings, waved away protests for a penalty by the home faithful. A minute later, Compton’s well flighted free kick was headed just over the crossbar by Lucas.

As the game entered the final ten minutes, the home side understandably began to tire, and Poole suddenly found some forward momentum, putting the City defence under pressure. However, the hosts remained dangerous on the break and Morgan burst towards goal in the 82nd minute only to be unceremoniously upended by Jake Smeeton, who was duly booked for his indiscretion.

Despite their late rally, The Dolphins could produce only one real chance of note which fell to Lee on 88 minutes, whose shot from 12 yards drew a brilliant full-length diving save from Southwood, and the Bath defence scrambled the loose ball away for the safety of a corner which came to nothing.

There is no doubt that this was a win full of grit and determination in the face of the disruption caused by the first half injuries. Overall, Poole played the more controlled football in midfield throughout, but they lacked a cutting edge up front and were faced with a resolute home defence. In the end, the margin of victory could have been greater with City looking the more dangerous going forward, and proving to be the better side for much of the second half. However, the major worry is number and severity of the various injuries sustained and what side Gary Owers will be able to field against Gloucester City on Monday afternoon.

Bath City: Luke Southwood; George Rigg, Ryan Case, Jack Batten, Dan Ball, Anthony Straker; Frankie Artus (Jack Compton 12 mins), Billy Murphy (Darren Jones 40 mins); Connor Lemonheigh-Evans (Jamie Lucas 27); Nick McCootie, Marvin Morgan. Subs not used: Nat Jarvis, Miles Welch-Hayes.

Poole Town: Nick Hutchings; Corby Moore, Jake Smeeton, Will Spetch, Jamie Whisken, Carl Pettefer (Abdulai Baggie 76 mins), Luke Burbidge, Steve Devlin, Tony Lee, Shaun Cooper (Olllie Balmer 45 mins), Jez Bedford (Jack Dickson 65 mins). Subs not used: Tom Rees, Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Ref; Mr. David Spain (Hastings)

Att. 484

this was a win full of grit and determination

As were the victories at Truro and Havant, showing that the players have responded well to the Chippenham debacle.

Welcome back, KK - always a sign that the season has really started!

And a sign that the cricket season is over

Yes welcome back Kev. Any news of the injured?

the demon headmaster wrote:Yes welcome back Kev. Any news of the injured?

According to the Chronicle, Artus and Murphy have groin strains and Lemonheigh-Evans appears to have an ankle injury.  Severity unknown at this stage.  McCootie was also struggling badly towards the end with what looked like a calf injury.  Let's hope we can get 11 fit men on the park at Evesham tomorrow.

I am sure we'll have a decent 11 plus subs there tomorrow. We finished with 11 on Saturday with 2 subs unused. It may be that Watto, Frankie or Mirph could be available......the ice bath does wonders

pete mac wrote:I am sure we'll have a decent 11 plus subs there tomorrow.  We finished with 11 on Saturday with 2 subs unused. It may be that Watto, Frankie or Mirph could be available......the ice bath does wonders

Watkins, in the stands, reckoned a return to fitness for Welling Saturday.

One down then.....

Whereas I heard in the bar post match that he was hopeful of playing on Monday - we''ll just have to wait and see.

Certainly pre-match he was looking at Welling but I guess it will now depend on how many we have available today. I guess he will be named as a sub at best.

Maybe he's a tease. During first half said he hoped today, end of second half.... Welling.
Half time walk maybe a bit too far!