Bath City (2)5 Slough Town (1)1

Bath City continued their impressive early season form at a sunny Twerton Park with a resounding victory over Slough Town.  A hat-trick from marksman Cody Cooke, and late goals by Tom Smith and Alex Fletcher, sent the visitors back to Berkshire licking their wounds.

The majority of a bumper Bank Holiday crowd of 1,414 were soon raising the roof as the hosts took the lead in the 3rd minute of the match.  Scott Wilson burst into the penalty area and was bundled to the ground by Lee Togwell with the referee, Mr. Neil Pratt having no hesitation in pointing to the spot.  Once the Slough protests had subsided, Cooke confidently sent goalkeeper Jonathan North the wrong way from 12 yards, finding the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

The Rebels responded strongly to their early setback and almost drew level a minute later when Elliot Benyon just failed to connect with a low cross from the right.

Play was halted in the 5th minute in truly bizarre circumstances.  It was decided by Mr. Pratt that Slough’s grey away kit was too similar in colour to Bath’s black and white stripes, forcing the visitors to don a quickly sourced previous City change strip of vibrant blue. It remains a mystery how this ‘clash’ was not identified ahead of the game’s commencement.

Following the resumption, the game flowed from end to end, and Fletcher nodded over North’s crossbar following a 10th minute corner from the left.  Slough’s Matt Lench tried a speculative shot from distance on 12 minutes that almost struck the corner flag, but his side were back on terms three minutes later.  Johnny Goddard controlled a ball into City’s box from the left, turned adeptly, and fired a firm shot from 10 yards past the dive of Joe Wright.

The sides continued to share the balance of play, but the hosts came close to regaining the lead in the 23rd minute.  Wilson again found space in the area and crossed to Cooke, who was unable to find a telling touch in front of goal and the danger was cleared.

Slough were posing questions for the home defence, and, on the half hour mark, Wright needed to pull off an excellent diving save to repel Scott Davies’ powerful effort from 25 yards. Goddard then found himself with a sight of goal with wright only able to parry his angled drive.  The ball was spinning dangerously towards goal, but Kieran Parselle did well to hack clear on the line.  

Three minutes before the interval, George Wells attempted an optimistic shot from distance that failed to trouble the home keeper, but City were back in front within a minute.  Wilson latched on to a ball into the Town box but saw his first effort blocked by North.  The wideman reacted quickly to pick up the loose ball and squared a pass into the path of the unmarked Cooke, who made no mistake from close range.

Tom Smith replaced Luke Spokes ahead of the restart, with City now preparing to play towards the Bath End. However, it was Slough who began with more purpose as they sought a second equaliser. Parselle again did extremely well to clear a 46th minute goalbound shot off the line from Wells, and Wright saved low down following a firm downward header from George Hunt.

Despite the early Town pressure, it was City who added to the scoreline on 58 minutes.  Cooke pounced on some dithering in the Slough rearguard, taking full toll by slotting the ball neatly into the far corner to complete his hat-trick.

The away side were clearly rocked by events but, to their credit, they continued to take the game to their hosts.  Elliott Frear replaced Wilson on 66 minutes as City looked to stretch the Town defensive ranks.  

The home defence stood firm as Slough applied more pressure as the minutes passed and Wright was forced into an awkward situation as Josh Jackman’s 75th minute cross dipped alarmingly under his crossbar.  The keeper parried the initial cross and recovered rapidly to collect the loose ball beyond his far post.  Two minutes later there was a prolonged and desperate goalmouth scramble in the home area, during which the ball twice struck the post and was also cleared off the goal-line, before the danger was averted.

City responded immediately with an attack of their own with a Fletcher cross from the right narrowly eluding Cooke’s head in front of goal, but the outcome was put beyond doubt in the 82nd minute.  Fletcher flicked the ball to Smith who raced through on goal.  The midfielder steadied himself and found the far corner of the net beyond the advancing North.

Town’s resolve had finally been extinguished and the icing on the cake was applied one minute into stoppage time.  Zac Bell, who had replaced Cooke, burst into the area only for North to parry his angled drive.  However, the ball ran loose to the unmarked Fletcher, who joyously rapped home from 8 yards out.

This was a richly deserved victory for Jerry Gill’s men who were clinical in front of goal, although the final scoreline was perhaps slightly harsh on Slough, a team that were committed to open attacking play and with a refreshing lack of theatrics.  The City defence stood resolute during periods of pressure, and the side looked fluent and threatening when attacking.  Certainly, they will need both qualities when they visit league leaders Ebbsfleet United next Saturday but, in the meantime, the bulk of those in attendance today left for home in buoyant mood.

Bath City:  Joe Wright, Joe Raynes, Jordan Dyer, Kieran Parselle, Dan Greenslade, Dan Hayfield, Chris Lines, Luke Spokes (Tom Smith 45 mins), Alex Fletcher, Scott Wilson (Elliott Frear 66 mins), Cody Cooke (Zac Bell 87 mins).   Subs not used: Ryan Clarke, Jack Batten.

Slough Town:  Jonathan North, Josh Jackman, George Wells, Guy Hollis, Lee Tugwell, Scott Davies, Fabio Sole, George Hunt, Matt Lench, Johnny Goddard, Elliot Benyon.  Subs: Edon Pruti, Gabe George, Aaron Kuhl, Imran Kayani, Ben Harris.

Referee:  Mr. Neil Pratt.

Attendance:  1,414

Good report Kev.
Terrific crowd for this game and the outside bar was very popular. Possibly the stewards need to stand a little cliser to it.