Bath City (0)0 Dulwich Hamlet (0)0

Ten-man Bath City earned a hard earned and fully deserved point from their encounter with play-off contenders Dulwich Hamlet at Twerton Park in front of another impressive attendance of 1,210. Forced to play the final 75 minutes without red-carded Jack Batten, the Somerset side performed with admirable fortitude to restrict their opponents to few clear-cut chances and, in the end, could have ended the game with all three points.

The visitors made most of the early running and threatened in the 8th minute when Ibra Sekajja was first to a bouncing ball inside the City box, but his header was straight at Ryan Clarke. Three minutes later a corner fell to Chike Kandi, and Clarke made a useful save low down to repel his shot.

The Romans responded with a firmly struck drive by Ryan Jones from 20 yards that was palmed wide of the far post by Dulwich custodian Charlie Grainger, but the min flash point of the match occurred on 15 minutes. Batten lost possession of the ball just inside the home half and pulled back Sekajja as he attempted to progress on goal leaving referee, Mr Ben Wyatt, little choice but to brandish the red card.

Hamlet sensed that the game was now theirs for the taking and, predicably, they enjoyed the majority of possession for the remainder of the half. Indeed, they almost took the lead after 20 minutes when City’s nemesis Danny Mills latched on to a ball over the top of the home defence, and drew a stunning blocking save from Clarke.

Ronnie Vint tried his luck from distance on 36 minutes, but his effort was well over Clarke’s crossbar and, three minutes later, Mills attempted to score from the tightest of angles with Joe Raynes coming to the rescue by clearing off the goalline.

As half time approached, Tyrone Sterling headed wide of the near post from a corner, and then Giovanni McGregor’s powerful rising shot from the edge of the box flew narrowly over the target.

Despite their overall dominance, the away side were becoming increasingly frustrated by their lack of a breakthrough, and this manifested itself in James Dayton’s ludicrous dive inside the City box in stoppage time, the only mystery being how he managed to escape a caution for his theatrics.

The second period commenced in much the same manner with Dulwich looking to press home their numerical advantage. Within two minutes of the restart Sanchez Ming’s cross from the right was met with a header from Mills that was comfortably saved by Clarke. The hosts countered through a surging run by Ryan Jones that concluded with him being seemingly clipped in the visitors’ area. Ardent appeals for a penalty by the home faithful were turned away by Mr. Wyatt.

On another rare sortie into Hamlet territory, Alex Fletcher attempted a looping shot from distance, but was unable to find the necessary accuracy.

Mills was again posing a threat to the City goal as the hour marked approached, forcing Clarke to push his header over the bar and, shortly afterwards, the same player was wide of the far post with another headed effort.

Thereafter, the visitors began to run out of attacking ideas in the face of a resolute Bath defensive unit. Dave Sims-Burgess replaced Ben Seymour on 78 minutes and now City pushed forward with greater confidence. A poor defensive clearance from the away side saw the ball fall to Omar Holness and, spotting Grainger off his line, the midfielder tried an audacious lofted shot from 35 yards that ultimately drifted well over the crossbar.

The hosts were now on top and, in the 81st minute, only a desperate block by a defender prevented Sims-Burgess’s thumping header finding the back of the net.

Both sides were committed to finding a winner and the game flowed from end to end, but it was City that were creating the better openings. Two minutes into stoppage time, Fletcher weaved into the box, only to be denied by a diving save from Grainger, and then the keeper blocked at Cody Cooke’s feet when the striker found some space inside the area.

The final whistle was met with a huge ovation by those on the terraces in appreciation of City’s endeavour and determination in the face of adversity. Dulwich were strong opponents who played some good football, and this could prove to be an extremely valuable point for Jerry Gill’s men as the season moves towards its conclusion, and they will look to build on this result when they travel to Concord Rangers next Saturday.

Bath City: Ryan Clarke, Joe Raynes, Jack Batten, Dan Ball, Zak Delaney, Ryan Jones, Omar Holness, Elliott Frear, Alex Fletcher, Cody Cooke, Ben Seymour (Dave Sims-Burgess 78 mins). Subs not used: Tom Smith, Eddie Jones, Will Fuller, Tom Richards.

Dulwich Hamlet: Charlie Grainger, Sanchez Ming, Andre Blackman, Michael Timlin, Ronnie Vint, Tyrone Sterling, Chike Kandi, Giovanni McGregor, Danny Mills, James Dayton, Ibra Sekajja. Subs: Darren McQueen, Luca levee, Teofiq Olomowewe, Jazzi Barnum-Bobb, Reise Allassani.

Referee: Mr. Ben Wyatt.

Attendance: 1,210

Dave Sims Burgess did very well when he came on, providing a target that allowed us to hold the ball up in advanced areas. But the lads were out on their feet by then having put in their best performance of the season.
Clarkey had a very good game and was very vocal marshalling the defensive effort so was deservedly MOM.

Great report, KK. Just for the record I think mention should be made of Dan Ball’s brilliant run with the ball in the second half. I’m sure he ran out of steam and therefore passed, rather than continuing to score one of the most memorable Twerton goals!

I think the ref brought the move to a halt for an infringement but it was difficult to see what for from our angle.

He passed to Sims-Burgess(?) who was flagged offside. Had he carried on and scored I would have started a fundraiser for a statue. I guess he was partly worried he'd be tackled so high up the pitch, Dulwich would take advantage and he'd get the mother of all rollickings.

It would be interesting to see if he was offside.

stillmanjunior wrote:Had he carried on and scored I would have started a fundraiser for a statue.

How many Dulwich players did he beat in that run? Three? In a few years time it will be recalled that he ran round the whole team twice...

..... and scored with a bullet header from the half way line.

BenE wrote:It would be interesting to see if he was offside.

I think he was - unfortunately

2weirdtown wrote:..... and scored with a bullet header from the half way line.

As you know full well, only one player was capable of that!