Bath City (0)0 Bognor Regis Town (0)0

Bath City and Bognor Regis Town slugged out a drab goalless draw at a chilly Twerton Park, the third successive game at the ground that has ended in complete stalemate.

The opening exchanges roused an element of hope amongst the home faithful as City created two early openings. Jack Compton’s 2nd minute speculative effort from distance passed harmlessly wide of Daniel Lincoln’s goal and, three minutes later, the same player delivered a corner from the right that saw Nat Jarvis’ header blocked by a defender.

Thereafter, it was the visitors who held the upper hand in terms of possession, and also worked the better chances. In the 6th minute a surging run by Jimmy Muitt set up a shot for Ben Swallow, who could not find the target, and then Muitt fired over Luke Southwood’s crossbar from 12 yards.

The Bognor ascendancy continued, with Muitt’s 15th minute cross just eluding the head of the onrushing Doug Tuck and, shortly afterwards, Harvey Whyte weaved his way across the face of the home box, only for his eventual under-hit shot to be directed straight at Southwood.

Ibra Sekajji chased a through ball towards the City area on 25 minutes, but Southwood raced out to repel the initial danger. The stranded custodian was grateful that Dan Ball was on hand to block Muitt’s follow up effort.

As the half hour mark approached the hosts began to find some forward momentum, but Jarvis’ shot from 20 yards was well wide. The best chance of the half arrived with 10 minutes left on the clock, when Opi Edwards raced into the Bognor box and his shot was deflected over the advancing Lincoln, but was cleared off the line by a retreating defender at the expense of a corner.

The final action before the break saw Michael Kelly’s cross from the left headed over the bar by Jarvis.

Frankie Artus replaced Andy Watkins ahead of the restart as Jerry Gill looked for an improved second half showing from his charges. However, the game remained fairly low key with the only attempt at goal coming from Miles Welch-Hayes in the 52nd minute, but this was deflected wide for a corner. Another corner resulted in a defensive header looping on to the top of the Bognor crossbar.

The West Sussex side were content to slow the game down, but almost took the lead after 65 minutes when Swallow’s dangerous angled shot was cleared to safety by home skipper Kevin Amankwaah.

Compton was withdrawn to allow the introduction of Isaac Pearce on 66 minutes, and the hosts began to push forward in search of a winning goal. Kelly picked out Jarvis with his cross from the left, but the striker’s header was comfortably saved by Lincoln. It was Jarvis’ last action as he was replaced by Marvin Morgan in the 73rd minute.

Bognor were looking to catch their hosts on the break, and the City defence needed to maintain their concentration. Indeed, Muitt produced a powerful drive on 75 minutes that flew into Southwood’s grateful arms, and Swallow also shot narrowly wide from distance. Sekajji then fired wastefully over the crossbar from a decent position. Sandwiched between these scares for the home side, Tom Smith burst into the Town box but hammered his effort narrowly wide of the near post.

The crowd were treated to a truly bizarre incident as the match entered its final stages, when it was pointed out to the referee Mr Lee Brennan that the ball had gone flat. Rather than immediately despatching the ball from the field of play, the ‘man-in-black’ chose to embark on an embarrassing journey across the entire width of the pitch whilst displaying highly dubious dribbling skills, before delivering the deflated orb to the dugouts. He then collected a replacement before returning to the far side of the pitch to conclude an astonishing and mind-boggling spectacle.

With two minutes left on the clock Smith clipped a cross into the box from the right, but Lincoln was able to save Morgan’s downward header. At the other end, Swallow’s shot was narrowly wide of Southwood’s far post, but the final chances fell to City as the game entered stoppage time. Firstly, Morgan was put through by Pearce but Lincoln did exceptionally well to block at the forward’s feet and then, in the final attack of the match, Smith skewed his shot wide following a free kick into the Bognor box.

This was a game that neither side deserved to win and a share of the spoils was therefore the rightful outcome. City are now looking secure at the back, but there is an urgent need to find a way to pose a serious threat going forward. Certainly, the lack of openings created against a side struggling at the wrong end of the table is a concern, and this needs to be addressed if Jerry Gill’s men are to make any challenge for the play-off places. However, thoughts will now turn to making further progress in the FA Trophy at Hendon next Saturday.

Bath City: Luke Southwood; Miles Welch-Hayes, Kevin Amankwaah, Dan Ball, Michael Kelly, Matt Richards, Tom Smith; Opi Edwards, Jack Compton (Isaac Pearce 66), Andy Watkins (Frankie Artus 45), Nat Jarvis (Marvin Morgan 73). Subs not used: Goerge Rigg, Kieran Hodges.

Bognor Regis Town: Dan Lincoln; Calvin Davies, Kristen Campbell, Doug Tuck, Chad Field, Keaton Wood (Dan Beck 87), Jimmy Muitt, Tommy Block, Ibra Sekajja, Harvey Whyte, Ben Swallow. Subs not used: Joe Lee, Tommy Scutt.

Referee: Mr. Lee Brennan

Att: 658

I actually thought it was an entertaining game. If Bognor had won we wouldn't have had cause to complain but as you say we just do not do enough in the opposition box.

BenE wrote:I actually thought it was an entertaining game. If Bognor had won we wouldn't have had cause to complain but as you say we just do not do enough in the opposition box.

Ben. You are probably right, and some on the Bognor forum thought I was being a bit harsh with the use of the term 'dour'. I suppose that, after enduring three goalless draws in a row at Twerton, frustration has probably slightly jaundiced my view. I actually thought that Bognor played the better football when viewing the game as a whole, but serious goalmouth action was at a premium at both ends of the pitch.

As I said in my report, I believe a draw was the right outcome.

I must admit that I could not quite understand Bognor's time wasting when they had a corner deep inside stoppage time, I thought that they would have put the ball in the 'mixer' and taken a chance, particularly when they desperately need points.

I just hope that City can find their scoring boots ahead of next week's game at Hendon, and also for the derby the following Saturday.

Kelston Koppite wrote:
I must admit that I could not quite understand Bognor's time wasting when they had a corner deep inside stoppage time, I thought that they would have put the ball in the 'mixer' and taken a chance, particularly when they desperately need points.

Exactly what I thought. They’re four points from safety and we aren’t a relegation rival. When they won a last minute corner I presumed they’d at least put the ball in the middle, couldn’t understand the logic. It was fair enough that Hemel took their time over things last week as they had 10 men and we’re similarly placed, but not Bognor. Having walked down the tunnel after, the music was blaring from their changing room so they’re clearly happy with a point. That said, 14 available players suggests they’re down to the bare bones so losing would have dampened their spirits further.

stillmanjunior wrote:

Kelston Koppite wrote:
I must admit that I could not quite understand Bognor's time wasting when they had a corner deep inside stoppage time, I thought that they would have put the ball in the 'mixer' and taken a chance, particularly when they desperately need points.

Exactly what I thought. They’re four points from safety and we aren’t a relegation rival. When they won a last minute corner I presumed they’d at least put the ball in the middle, couldn’t understand the logic. It was fair enough that Hemel took their time over things last week as they had 10 men and we’re similarly placed, but not Bognor. Having walked down the tunnel after, the music was blaring from their changing room so they’re clearly happy with a point. That said, 14 available players suggests they’re down to the bare bones so losing would have dampened their spirits further.

I walked out of the ground behind some Bognor fans who were saying exactly the same thing.

Something I hadn't realised until yesterday evening was that the referee was the one who sent Darren Jones off against Wealdstone - his antics with the deflated ball were almost the highlight of the game!

He also did the Whitehawk away game, so we’ve scored once with him in charge and that was a penalty against the worst team in the league. Urgh.