Bath City (1)2 Concord Rangers (0)1

Bath City bounced back from the disappointment of Tuesday evening’s defeat at the hands of Hampton & Richmond Borough by beating high flying Concord Rangers in front of a Twerton Park Community Day crowd of 1,272. Goals from Jordan Dyer and Cody Cooke were sufficient to overcome a penalty kick converted by Rangers’ Danny Green.

The opening exchanges were even as each side sought to gain the initiative but it was City, playing towards the Bristol End, who took the lead on 10 minutes. A corner from the right was headed by Callum Wood forcing visiting custodian Myles Roberts into a good parrying save. However, the loose ball fell to Dyer eight yards out, and he wasted no time before clattering his shot into the back of the net in emphatic style.

The home side were clearly buoyed by their goal, and they began to play with confidence as they attacked Concord’s rearguard. A raking cross from the left by Elliott Frear in the 13th minute eluded Roberts’ flailing hands and flew dangerously across the face of his goal to safety. A minute later Alex Fletcher forced his way into the away box, but his angled shot was straight into the arms of the grateful keeper.

City continued to dominate possession and Roberts produced an outstanding flying save to repel Cooke’s powerful effort on 26 minutes. On the hour mark Mo Touray was desperately unlucky when his curling shot from the edge of the box was smothered at the second attempt by Roberts, but not before the ball had struck the base of the far post.

Ryan Clarke was finally called into action after 36 minutes when he was required to gather Ryan Blackman’s speculative freekick from fully 35 yards out.

The home side had another golden opportunity to increase their advantage in the 38th minute when a Fletcher shot was pushed into the path of Touray who, with an unguarded net before him, looked certain to score, only to be denied by a superb last ditch defence blocking challenge.

The second half saw Concord, change to a more controlled passing game from the direct approach employed prior to the break. Consequently, they came more into the game and began to push their hosts deeper into their own territory. Their efforts were rewarded after 56 minutes when Lamar Reynolds was fouled from behind by Jack Batten inside the Bath box. Green made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Clarke the wrong way.

City pushed forward as their attempted to re-establish their lead, and Joe Raynes’ half valley from the edge of the Concord box just cleared Roberts’ crossbar. However, it was the visitors who were now enjoying the balance of possession, although they were unable to put Clarke’s goal under any real threat.

As the game entered its final 15 minutes, The Romans found some renewed forward thrust. Frear’s cross from the left picked out Cooke, who turned adeptly on the edge of the area before firing a drive narrowly over the bar. Touray’s shot from distance a minute later suffered a similar fate.

The Essex side created some unease in the City defence in the 77th minute when Temi Babalola weaved his way down the by-line, before forcing Clarke to block his angled shot for a corner at the near post.

The home side made their second breakthrough of the afternoon with 10 minutes left on the clock following a long clearance from Clarke. Cooke won the initial header and chased the ball into the box, holding off a defender before rounding Roberts and blasting his shot into the roof of the net.

Fletcher had the chance to make the game safe three minutes later as he found space on the right-hand side of the box, but scuffed his shot from a good position straight at the goalkeeper.

Tom Smith replaced Touray as the game entered stoppage time and, despite the earnest efforts of the visitors, the City defence held out for victory without any further undue alarm.

City were fully worthy of this win and, particularly in the first half, displayed some excellent passing and movement. This was backed up by determined defensive work after the interval when Concord pushed more men forward and looked more threatening. The home faithful can now look forward to next Saturday’s FA Trophy encounter with table topping Dartford when their side’s growing confidence will certainly be put to the test.


Bath City: Ryan Clarke, Eddie Jones, Jack Batten, Callum Wood, Zak Delaney, Jordan Dyer, Joe Raynes, Mo Touray (Tom Smith 90), Elliott Frear, Alex Fletcher, Cody Cooke. Subs not used: Omar Holness, Will Fuller, Lloyd James, Josh Owers.

Concord Rangers: Myles Roberts, Tosan Popo, Joe Payne, Jake Peck, Ollie Kensdale, Ryan Blackman, Temi Babalola, Danny Green, Lamar Reynolds, Billy Roast, Wyan Reid. Subs: Richard Afrane-Kesey, Odei Martin, Sam carter, Ben Search, Franklin Domi.

Referee: Mr. Ross Martin

Att: 1,272

Great Report. Wadda win!

Agreed. A great, fighting performance!

This performance was quite magnificient and especially so given the work that needed to be done after the last two games. I would have made Dyer MOM as he provided the anchor we have needed. It was an inspired idea to push him into midfield.
Concord actually fashioned very little even when they were on top possession wise and their goalie saved them from a heavier defeat. I thought his first half saves from Cook and Touray were top drawer.
And well done to Jack Batten, he looked solid (I thought the penalty was soft but replays may show it was valid).

BenE wrote:This performance was quite magnificient and especially so given the work that needed to be done after the last two games. I would have made Dyer MOM as he provided the anchor we have needed. It was an inspired idea to push him into midfield.
Concord actually fashioned very little even when they were on top possession wise and their goalie saved them from a heavier defeat. I thought his first half saves from Cook and Touray were top drawer.
And well done to Jack Batten, he looked solid (I thought the penalty was soft but replays may show it was valid).

Certainly not Alex Fletcher today.

Moment of the day was the Legion singing the chocolate biscuit song.

How did Jake Peck & Ryan Blackman stay on the pitch after their cleaving tackles?

Plus, if Andrew need any research done on the grass seed he is using, he need not look any further than Concord's Wyan Reid, who spent a large part of the match inspecting our grass.

What a joy to finally get back to winning ways with a fine battling performance.

Well, credit to all concerned, that was a lot better all round. Putting Jordan Dyer alongside Joe Raynes certainly gave the midfield the physicality we have been missing and took some of the pressure off the back four.
Having Mo Touray up front also gave us another dimension to our attacking play, he drags defenders around creating openings. Another big plus was having Jack Batten back & looking more like his old self, his experience
is much needed alongside the younger defenders.

Good to see lots of social media posts from people that have never been to TP before & had a good day. So important we win these community games or at least play positively in order to showcase the club in front of a big crowd.

P.s I think we should be doing more to emphasise the appeal of City Vs the expensive & poor performing rugby team

South London Road City wrote:
P.s I think we should be doing more to emphasise the appeal of City Vs the expensive & poor performing rugby team

If by 'we' you mean the supporters, agree totally. But it could backfire if highlighted by the Club.

Yes the supporters. I appreciate there are benefits of good relationships with the rugby management

Just watched the highlights. Cracking winner from Cooke. How on earth was that not a red card on 66 mins for the stamp on Raynes?

Did Elliott Frear eat a chip after our 2nd goal?

South London Road City wrote:Good to see lots of social media posts from people that have never been to TP before & had a good day. So important we win these community games or at least play positively in order to showcase the club in front of a big crowd.

P.s I think we should be doing more to emphasise the appeal of City Vs the expensive & poor performing rugby team

It underlines how well the club has done in increasing City's profile.  Especially considering there is absolutely no coverage in the 'Chronicle' nowadays.  Seems it is just a mouthpiece for the rugby. 
Does anyone actually read it now anyway? (assuming you can, given the appalling spelling)

You’re right about there being no coverage online. Yeovil don’t have any either. It’s totally rugby dominated. I have brought it up but I don’t think it’ll change.

In terms of the printed copy we get two pages a week, about 2000 words of coverage. Can’t really complain about that.

Ah, thanks for that. I only ever see the online version here in Dorset.