City V Staines

What are the prospects today then? Staines bottom by some distance but I see they triumphed over Gosport midweek. Banana skin?

New manager and all that. Our record against them isn't the best. Despite their poor position I think most of their defeats have been by the odd goal, rather than being hammered out of sight. I think they've lost four games after holding a two-goal lead as well.

Hemmings for Simmo, presumably injured as not in squad. Diallo on a strong bench with Nick, Ross, Allen and Keary.

1 up Pratt pen

1-1.....................................then 2-1 City, Dave Pratt again.

Dominant first twenty minutes from City, but only one meaningful attack since. City will need to reproduce that first twenty minutes in the second half to get anything from this game.

The penalty was for a clear foul on Dan Ball. Keeper got a good hand on it, but couldn't keep it out. Pratt's second was a good foot over the line when the keeper caught it, with the linesman looking right along the goal line. Not sure why the keeper thought it wasn't in.

City win 2-1. Altrincham player Williams sent off for second yellow for simulation intheir 2-1 win over Torquay - with their automatic next game bans, will he suspended next week?

Just about did enough second half, although the chances were there for Staines. Pratt well offside when he put the ball in the net.

Very entertaining game played with a good attitude by both sets of players. Given Staines precarious position they played with heart and never gave in. With a bit more composure could have made it 2-2 but we should have already been out of sight.

City played well as a team with no one really standing out although Dan Bowman had one of his best games. He is starting to have some end product in his game which is very encouraging.

The new lad looked quality. Could well be a great acquisition.

Yes, I thought Dan Bowman was our motm.

Hard fought win but they all count.

I thought it was the linesman who gave the goal, his flag was up n signaling as the ref looked across. 3 pts is 3 pts.

Agree with above about Danny B. Outstanding.

Decent game against a team who had nothing to lose and went for it. These games are always a potential banana skin and as mentioned previously we just need to ensure we come through with the win, no matter if it is closer than might be expected. By the by, I see WSM had yet another home game called off due to waterlogging - God help them when the real winter weather cuts in and I wonder exactly when our re-arranged game will actually take place.

Today was one of those days when I thought I would end up using the words that are rarely used outside of a football ground - rue. I thought we would rue all the missed chances that we had. Well, I say 'missed chances', they were all on target but all at the keeper. There was a theory that goalies' should wear bright kit as the strikers' eyes - and, therefore, their shots and headers - were attracted to the keeper. I am not sure whether this it is true but footage of today could be used as evidence. I reckon 7 or 8 went straight to the keeper. Maybe 1 or 2 made him move somewhat.

Anyway, we won and we are getting a good little run going at the right time with next Saturday being another big match.

yuffie wrote:Yes, I thought Dan Bowman was our motm.

Hard fought win but they all count.

There is no doubt that Dan had one of his best games.

However, Frankie had a controlling role in the midfield for most of the game, making him MOTM for many people.

Frankie really put in a shift yesterday....he was absolutely everywhere and got several important tackles in as well as his passing and general play. I agree about Dan Bowman.....he was brilliant against Wealdstone last week, so it's nice to see that consistent progression. I'd be tempted to go with Sekani in the middle when he's back to continue with Bowman at FB, as I remain unconvinced by Walsh at the moment.

Colin Voutt wrote:

However, Frankie had a controlling role in the midfield for most of the game, making him MOTM for many people.

My feeling was that we conceded the midfield for a long period in the second half until Nobby was brought on but I don't think Dan put a foot wrong all game.

But generally agree Frankie had a good game.

Am interested to see how Nobby fits in as he seems very similar to Kington/Allen.

I thought Addlesbury, was very good too.

Should have won so much more easily and because we didn't put the chances away that should have given us a comfortable 4-1 or 5-1 victory we ended up with the another 'squeaky bum' 15-20 minutes at the end.....seemingly the norm in so many home games where we dominate but fail to put teams away. How the Staines striker missed that simple chance to equalise in the last couple of minutes I really do not know....

Outstanding games with full commitment from Bowman, Gallinagh, Artus and Pratt and I thought the new lad Diallo showed a nice touch and plenty of ability & pace when he came on. Hemmings a bit off the pace after his lay-off but at least he will be closer to it next week in the tough F.A Trophy game with Altrincham. Ashley Kington - who is a very talented footballer - and Adlesbury did OK most of the time, but for me they didn't really make things happen enough after half time when it needed someone to stamp their authority on things and if Artus had not been playing so well, not a lot would have been created at all in this period.......and that is why we lost our way a bit in the 2nd half until the changes were made.

Thought we played some great passing football on the deck in the first half which Staines had no answer to and could easily have scored at least 3-4 more, but why do we always seem to resort to long ball for no particular reason?  As soon as we did this, we lost the midfield battle for at least 25-30 minutes in the 2nd half and at 2-1 that is always going to be dangerous.

Overall a good few weeks for the squad and given the run of the ball and a bit of luck, next Saturday should not be too daunting a prospect, especially if we play good slick football on the deck as we did at Bristol Rovers, in the first half yesterday and in a number of other games recently. If we rely on the long ball into channels though I think Altrincham's job will be made a lot easier and ours a lot harder.

Mighty big game for the whole club next Saturday....team wise for really achieving something this season with what is a very capable squad, supporter wise to retain & increase the interest in Bath City and definitely financially in the club's current situation....

cannonball wrote:Should have won so much more easily and because we didn't put the chances away that should have given us a comfortable 4-1 or 5-1 victory we ended up with the another 'squeaky bum' 15-20 minutes at the end.....

Wasn't it just?

cannonball wrote:How the Staines striker missed that simple chance to equalise in the last couple of minutes I really do not know....

He got a bit of stick from Staines supporters for that but I thought he did well to get into that position and get a shot away.