Bath City (1)2 Chelmsford City (0)0

Bath City secured a much needed victory against a robust Chelmsford City side at Twerton Park.  In a match that was always keenly contested an early goal from skipper Anthony Straker, and a strike in second half stoppage time by Tom Smith, were sufficient for the hosts to take all three points.

Playing towards the Bath End, the home team began in the ascendancy and took the lead in mysterious circumstances in the 6th minute.  Ross Stearn made good ground down the left flank before entering the box and delivering a cross.  The referee, Mr. Richard Gardner, initially appeared to award a goal kick but was, in fact, pointing towards the penalty spot for a push on the Bath wideman by Jazzi Barnum-Bobb.  Straker stepped forward to despatch his effort from 12 yards into the bottom corner of the net, in the process sending Chelmsford keeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer the wrong way.

Encouraged by their advantage, The Romans pressed forward in search of further reward.  Ryan Brunt sprang the offside trap down the right hand side in the 9th minute and pulled the ball back into the penalty area where it eventually fell to Adam Mann, whose fierce low shot was blocked by a defender.

The hosts continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession for the remainder of the first half, but the game was largely played in midfield areas with little in the way of goalmouth action at either end.  Joe Raynes’ volley from outside the box on 27 minutes caused Maynard-Brewer to scurry across his goal but, in the end, gathered the ball comfortably.

The stalemate was punctuated by a number of over-enthusiastic challenges from the Essex outfit, and the flow of the game was not helped by a fussy performance by the ‘man in the middle’.

The second period commenced with a goalmouth scramble in the home box during which vociferous Chelmsford appeals for handball were waved away by Mr. Gardner.  The home side then put themselves under unnecessary pressure in the 51st minute. Indecision in their defence resulted in an indirect freekick inside the area when Ryan Clarke picked up Jack Batten’s deliberate back-pass.  As so often happens in such circumstances, the ensuing freekick was blocked by the outrushing defenders.

The Clarets were gradually increasing their share of possession and much of the game was now being played in the Bath half of the pitch.  Jonathan Giles tried his luck from 25 yards in the 57th minute, but Clarke made a good save low down to repel the effort.  At the other end, Adam Mann struck a free kick from 25 yards that took a wicked deflection and Maynard-Brewer back-peddled to produce an excellent save at full stretch.

The hosts were reduced to breakaways into the opposition half and, on one such occasion in the 65th minute, Brunt flicked the ball on to Mann who cut inside from the right only to shoot narrowly wide of the near post.

Chez Isaac headed wide of Clarke’s far post following a cross from the left on 70 minutes and, nine minutes later his side came desperately close to restoring parity. Giles delivered a cross from the right that found the unmarked Tom Wraight inside the 6-yard box, but he somehow clattered the ball against the underside of the crossbar before it was cleared to safety by the relieved home defence.

Buoyed by their good fortune, Bath regained a foothold in midfield and could have increased their lead when Brunt charged down Maynard-Brewer’s attempted clearance, but the ball bounced wide of the target to spare the custodian’s blushes.  However, this reprieve proved to be short-lived as the home side struck again deep into added time.  Having won a corner kick, the hosts initially sought to run down time in the corner, but Mann suddenly burst clear down the by-line towards the edge of the box before picking out Smith.  The midfielder controlled the ball before calmly slotting his shot into the net beyond the exposed keeper.

This was certainly a bruising encounter, and it was perhaps a little surprising that Chelmsford ended the game with eleven players on the pitch.  With Jerry Gill’s squad currently being stretched by injuries, there were limited options available on the bench and, understandably, his side looked tired as the game wore on.  To their immense credit they withstood everything that The Clarets could throw at them in the second half, and they earned their piece of luck when the ball came back off the crossbar.  The visitors will no doubt feel aggrieved by the penalty award against them and wonder how they did not draw level later in the game, but perhaps the final outcome balanced things out after the events of the first match between the sides earlier in the season.

Bath City: Ryan Clarke; Michee Efete, Robbie Cundy, Jack Batten, Anthony Straker; Frankie Artus, Joe Raynes, Tom Smith; Adam Mann, Ryan Brunt, Ross Stearn. Subs not used: Harvey Wiles-Richards, Kevin Amankwaah, Matt Richards, James Ollis.

Chelmsford City: Ashley Maynard-Brewer; Joe Anderson, Elliot Omozusi, Adrian Cascaval, Jazzi Barnum-Bobb (Amos Nasha 71), Anthony Church (Chez Isaac 63), Michael Spillane, Chris Whelpdale, Tom Wraight, Jonathan Giles, Scott Fenwick. Subs not used: Max Porter, Matthew Young, Kiran Khinda-John.

Referee: Mr. Richard Gardner.

Attendance:  637

Excellent summation KK.

Seconded. Must say the save from their keeper from the deflected shot ranks as the best I've seen this season. In many respects he looked too good for this level but his distribution was appalling.

comrade powell wrote:Seconded. Must say the save from their keeper from the deflected shot ranks as the best I've seen this season. In many respects he looked too good for this level but his distribution was appalling.

Remind you of a certain ex-keeper of ours?

Great to see the team respond so well after last week's 20 minute shocker. Whilst I agree that Tom Smith was much more like the player from last season today I thought the clear motm was Robbie Cundy, especially given the aerial bombardment we came under from Chelmsford's throw-ins. Understandably of the new players Adam Mann and Joe Raynes have got most of the plaudits but I think Robbie has got better and better as the season has gone on.

yuffie wrote:
Great to see the team respond so well after last week's 20 minute shocker. Whilst I agree that Tom Smith was much more like the player from last season today I thought the clear motm was Robbie Cundy, especially given the aerial bombardment we came under from Chelmsford's throw-ins. Understandably of the new players Adam Mann and Joe Raynes have got most of the plaudits but I think Robbie has got better and better as the season has gone on.

I'd have to agree with that - he and Batten had a huge amount of work to do but restricted Chelmsford to only a couple of real chances. Smith did have a good game but the centre-backs coped with relentless pressure at times and never looked likely to buckle.

Corstonian wrote:

yuffie wrote:
Great to see the team respond so well after last week's 20 minute shocker. Whilst I agree that Tom Smith was much more like the player from last season today I thought the clear motm was Robbie Cundy, especially given the aerial bombardment we came under from Chelmsford's throw-ins. Understandably of the new players Adam Mann and Joe Raynes have got most of the plaudits but I think Robbie has got better and better as the season has gone on.

I'd have to agree with that - he and Batten had a huge amount of work to do but restricted Chelmsford to only a couple of real chances. Smith did have a good game but the centre-backs coped with relentless pressure at times and never looked likely to buckle.

while not disagreeing, we should not minimalise how hard Tom worked.

Have to agree with the calls for Cundy to be MOTM but, perhaps, Smith's nomination spurred him on to score.

As far as the rest of the match was concerned, it was a bit of a "win ugly" game but a well-deserved three point. Apart from the deflection off the cross bar, I didn't really worry that Chelmsford were going to get one back when we were 1-0 up which isn't always the case. Perhaps 2-0 flattered us a touch but it wasn't the greatest display by either team though we were slightly superior in defence.

I can't remember ever having seen a team not make any subs at all.