Bath City 1 Dorking 2

I am surprised that there is nothing on here about today's match. Perhaps everyone is too upset to speak.
It was a case of agony and ecstasy . . . . . . I was really happy to be able to watch the game live , but that brings all the nailbiting etc.

Was anyone else mad enough to do what I did ? Sat in my Bath City scarf and hat (not too hot in the shade ) . . . . . sang and chanted all the way through. . . . . what a pity they couldn't hear us .

Never mind, our boys did well to get as far as they did this season. Looking forward to next season now

I meant to say that towards the end of the match when my heart was sinking the thing that took the sting out of it was watching the Dorking manager being sent off by the referee . . . . . that lightened the mood a bit

I think most people probably are just too disappointed to comment.

I am sure that we all have our views on what went wrong, what we could have done better etc. I don't think we should let today overshadow what overall was an enjoyable and successful season, so perhaps the best thing to do is to draw a line and look forward to next season and see if we can finish top so that we don't have to go through the agony of the playoffs (or Sport Radar!) again.

I thoroughly agree with you LB.

Very disappointed but so glad we got the chance to play. Showed our strengths off the field and massive thank you to all those who worked hard to make it happen.

For me a bit more physicality and we’ll be up next season.

A month off then surely we go again. Positive and confident for next season and Jerry boosted by£30k plus?

A bit deja vu to last year I guess. I actually felt that we played ok in the first half despite the early setback. Fine margins in football - Smith's shot is an inch from going in, their header (which I thought was terrific in fairness) soon after an inch from staying out. Second half we didn't really get going until we scored, but I thought Dorking defended magnificently and put their bodies on the line. We tried all sorts but they dealt with all the set-pieces, long throws, our efforts to pass it through. I feel that if the game was played after the Hungerford match, which for obvious reasons wasn't possible, we would have won. Dorking have had four months off to recover and regroup and I wouldn't be surprised if they beat Weymouth.

It also wasn't as surreal as I expected playing behind closed doors because the main stand felt very busy. Dorking's subs were close to me plus a few others not included. We were restricted to five in the press box but there seemed to be an awful lot of other people there for whatever reason. I thought there would be about 30 in the ground not including players and subs, the main stand was about as active as it would be for a Somerset Premier Cup match.

Anyway, looking forward to whenever the season starts. Sad to see so many loanees (it speaks volumes how many former players wished us well on social media) but no doubt we'll have adequate replacements. Jack Batten being back is a plus too.

Sorry to see today's result (although privately and selfishly pleased to be putting BA2 1DB into my satnav once again next season). Play-offs are notoriously unreliable and never very fair. Oh, and no surprise the Dorking manager being sent off. Utter lack of class.

It's been an unreal summer for all of us, but there do seem to be glimmers that we will get back to playing - in front of an actual crowd. If the suggested limit of 25% of capacity comes true, I think both our clubs would be thrilled to bits - that's over a thousand through the gates!

Best wishes to you all, and we'll see you when we see you....

I'm not sure who I want up now.

Dorking - quite easy to get to, decent setup, nice enough people. Manager a bit outspoken - saying they have risen to this level without being bankrolled is nonsense. You don't go from county football to here without money. No jealousy as they seem to be spending it the right way, just don't believe you can win 11 promotions on a shoestring.
Dartford - pain to get to, always lose there, best commentary position in the league (if you arrive early enough, otherwise you have the worst). Nice ground.
Weymouth - strangely officious with media people. Nice day out, draws in big crowds.
Havant - been there about 10,000 times and left there feeling angry after 9,999 of them.

Dartford or Havant after reflection, then.

Thanks, Kevin! One consolation of today’s defeat is that we return to Ice Station Zebra next season! Enjoy the rest of the summer and hope to see you again next time.

Havant to go up please! Always enjoy visiting the others despite our poor record at Dartford.

I'm sorry to see it too. It wasn't going to be an easy game for both clubs to play a competitive game after the past few months. Credit to Dorking - scoring two really good goals and they made it difficult for us to get into the game.

Thank you to everyone that made this game happen. I had my doubts and concerns about this game, and more of my frustration should have been directed at the National League. It was nice to watch us play again and have that pre-game excitement.

On reflection, this has been a successful season, and long may it continue. Up the city

Cheers Kevin.
Looking forward to seeing you next season.
I suppose I will have to agree with Comrade and hope Haven't a Clueville go up, even though it's an easy journey.
Dartford......great working man's club to drink in.
Dorking.......well, we need to beat them!
Weymouth......great historical rivalry and a great day out.
Actually I've changed my mind. I hope Dorking go up now just to piss off H&W.

stillmanjunior wrote:I'm not sure who I want up now.

Dorking - quite easy to get to, decent setup, nice enough people. Manager a bit outspoken - saying they have risen to this level without being bankrolled is nonsense. You don't go from county football to here without money. No jealousy as they seem to be spending it the right way, just don't believe you can win 11 promotions on a shoestring.
Dartford - pain to get to, always lose there, best commentary position in the league (if you arrive early enough, otherwise you have the worst). Nice ground.
Weymouth - strangely officious with media people. Nice day out, draws in big crowds.
Havant - been there about 10,000 times and left there feeling angry after 9,999 of them.

Dartford or Havant after reflection, then.

If there was a Dartford v Dorking final Steve King would be the least obnoxious manager on today's evidence!

Dorking had a surprisingly large contingent of people at the game. When we were doing the pitch afterwards their manager was chatting to a whole group of people.
I thought the team put out was too lightweight. Dorking are a team of giants we were never going to score from anything floated into the box and they presented a danger in ours. Plus they could always stretch out a leg and get a toe in to frustrate our close control.
I thought we finished with a stronger team.
Nevertheless play offs are a complete lottery and especially after this lay off. So under the circumstances it is difficult to be too critical.
I'm sure there wouldn't have been the streaming issues if we had done it. although maybe they had more subscribers than expected.

Very disappointed with this result, was hoping to at least get a step further and play Weymouth.I felt the starting line up was not our best side and felt we needed to start stronger with our experienced players ie Brunt , Watkins , Stearn etc .This was like a cup tie , one chance only .Our crowdfunding pledge was excellent and the work that went into it was absolutely amazing, so full credit to the club for this .Hoping that we sign some really good players and not rely on the loan market so much for next season , although it’s going to be a strange season with the way of the world at the moment and the foreseeable future, so we may not have that option .If we can I have every faith in Jerry and Jim to hopefully build a successful side that can compete for automatic promotion and not have to go through the highs and lows of the playoffs .

JG post match interview worth a listen. Identifying physicality issues with squad and need to address in recruitment. But those big strong athletes will come at a price.

Just watched the highlights. Interesting discussion between Q and Andrew Kerslake about whether there was a handball in the build-up to the free kick that lead to the first goal. Pretty sure that I have seen on Match of the Day VAR disallow goals when an attacker has accidentally been hit on the arm like that in the build-up (although yesterday was quite clearly intentional). Also hadn't realised that there was no punishment now, other than the penalty, if a player handles the ball in the box. Clearly the new handball laws have passed me by!

Yes it was pretty clear handball but the ref didn't see it, just as he didn't see their player pull Manny down. That was given by the lino. The lino may have seen the handball but they don't usually make a contribution if the offence happens in the other half.
Mind you it cannot be easy being an official in football.

There was an interesting article about the ref on the BBC site last week. Believe it says he works as a prison officer who I doubt he was bothered at the abuse White was throwing him.

@stillmanjunior why didn't you ask Jerry about team selection in your post match interview? As soon as I saw the team sheet I was concerned about the lack of physicality in the team. Having preached about learning lessons from Wealdstone to not start Frankie Artus in this game was unforgivable! Was he injured? Jerry quickly glossed over our lack of physicality in the game for the 2nd year in a row and you hardly pressed him on it. I know emotions were raw but think it was a valid question to ask.

stowford press wrote:@stillmanjunior why didn't you ask Jerry about team selection in your post match interview? As soon as I saw the team sheet I was concerned about the lack of physicality in the team. Having preached about learning lessons from Wealdstone to not start Frankie Artus  in this game was unforgivable! Was he injured? Jerry quickly glossed over our lack of physicality in the game for the 2nd year in a row and you hardly pressed him on it. I know emotions were raw but think it was a valid question to ask.

Apologies, four months off left me a bit rusty, I'll work harder over the summer break.