City v Wealdstone

Had to hang in there at times but it's the points that matter

Agreed. Considering the heat and hanging around for ages for it to start, I thought that was an enjoyable game. Better teams than Wealdstone will punish our shaky defence but going forward we look in pretty good shape. McCootie took his goal really well and probably should have finished with a second. I'm sure Davies will become a fans favourite pretty quickly - if only that late Exocet shot had gone in - while Nicholson is going to provide plenty of assists. And talking of assists, well done Coupey!

Very hard fought game that could have gone either way. Cannot fault the effort from anyone. Some good saves / blocks from Philips and Davies does look a good player. McCootie has rough edges but unsettles defenders.
Big concern is central defense - we need a commanding centre back, going to get punished by some teams with big strong mobile attackers. Cannot see any point in signing Chris Allen on again when he is fit when any available funds should go towards trying to recruit a centre back.

Liked the look of the new boys Phillips (MoM for me), Davies, Nicholson, Matthews & Williams. Congrats to Nick for a cool finish. Substitutions were spot on, well done management. Coupey Dog what a star.

Lots of improvement needed, most of the game 4 / 10, we were lucky to not be 3 down.  Second half of second half a lot better 8 / 10.  Movement by me into the main stand often sees a big improvement in on field performance...

On the poplar side at half way the announcements cannot be clearly heard.

We had some excellent chances in the 1st half especially. Watkins especially needs to be more clinical. Rode our luck at the back. Davies switch from the right at the start of the 2nd half meant he disappeared for a while. Then started to assert himself on the left and down the middle with a surging run. He is the 'real deal'. We seemed to sit back when we scored the 2nd which is always a mistake when your defence is the weakest part of the team. Thought the ref was weak. Too lenient. He'll lose control of games with more cynical teams who realise he hasn't got control.

Yes tannoy not clear on poplar side. Davies looks an exciting player. Took a while to get into it but keen to shoot. Phillips the man of the match, kept us in it. Ferriby esque bringing McCootie at ht when it was clear that we werent holding the ball up to play the footie on the ground, though at times thought we overplayed in 1st half. Wealdstone will be wondering how they got nothing out of that. We looked as though we had been on the coach in the 1st half, not sharp, lethargic. Anyway, a win is a win, we'll take it and move on.

First half we were never quite at the races despite the goal and having a few other chances but the introduction of McCootie made a big difference. We began to get the ball in more threatening areas and Davies finally began to get into the game. Agree with Rob and Gerry that Phillips should have been given MOTM (he has been on the website  ) as he made three or four excellent saves.

Their goal was a soft one to concede - just watched the video and they had five unchallenged headers which is a bit worrying.

On the plus side we looked fit given the conditions and even after the goal could have scored again despite Wealdstone understandably pushing us back in the closing minutes.

Agree that the referee was weak, allowing Wealdstone to get away with numerous niggly fouls before finally booking someone. It was this leniency that led to the late challenge on Matthews that ended his game. Up until then I thought he'd done okay and fair play to Matt Coupe who dealt with everything that came his way.

After the opening game last season* anything was an improvement and whilst Wealdstone can probably feel a bit unlucky not to have picked up a point it was a decent battling performance.

*I see Concord did the same to WSM today and McClennan was on the bench. Whoops!

surprised you didn't start with McCootie. He terrified us when he came on.

Nice ground you got (my first visit in ten years)... Good luck for the season chaps, would like to be back next year.

visit stonesgoals.co.uk to watch match highlights from today's game

Thanks Stonesgoals and well done to your fans for creating a good atmosphere yesterday. I hope you had a problem free journey back after the delays in the morning. Hopefully City's fans will turn out in force for the return game in November. All the very best before then!

Agree that the Wealdstone fans made it a great atmosphere. They made it sound like there were far more than 641 (if I heard the gate right).

Lots of good points made here too. I don't think we do have a shaky defence. We have a shaky team. We panic as a team and bring everyone back into our own area and just lump balls back to their midfield to come back at us. At one stage we didn't have a single player outside our own box.

It just invites them to come at us.

I agree with most of what has been said re our performance. The substitutions actually worked well for us, although I believe they were not driven by a need to change tactics - injuries plus a very tired Chas. (Big guy, playing in mid field on a very hot day)!

The defence is a major worry. Last year we started with a seemingly unfit Walsh in the centre of defence and this year we have a young lad, who showed much promise, but in my view could not match the physicality of their No 9. He appears to have the potential to grow into the role but there are some experienced strikers in our league who might find him out. Matt Coupe was effective when he came on but I am not certain that he is themedium/longer term solution.

I thought Bradley Williams looked pretty decent and improves the squad. He and Davies looked good together and were the main reasons for our improvement later in the game.

For Tuesday, I would like to see us start with the 11 players who finished against Wealdstone.

Cheers stonesgoals for the quality highlights, Wealdstone very unfortunate not to get a draw probably but great performance from Phillips in goal.

Enjoyed seeing the action from the Bristol End and the roar after McCootie's winner sounded great. On such a glorious day it just shows how Twerts really is the best place in the world - ever

Thank you very much stonegoals.

I hope there is general agreement that Luke Williams did not make a meal of the challenge.

Thanks for highlights of game, stonesgoals. Great footage and loved the switch of camera angle in second half.

Great piece of work from Coupie in setting up the winner.  Under pressure from an attacker, he didn't take his eye off an awkward bouncing ball, won it and started the move.
Great finish from McCootie who I thought also did well a number of times in holding the ball in their half and taking pressure off our defence.  Will have to watch those rash tackles though - lucky to escape a yellow card today from a lenient ref.

After the way last season started I think the result was probably more important than the performance, especially as we were at home.

Have to agree with most of the comments above - not a great deal appears to have changed from last season.  Again we seemed to play very deep on occasions, and too often resorted to the long ball forward - if we are going to do that then McCootie needs to be on from the start. I think last season we generally looked better with the ball on the ground.

Great finish from McCootie though.

I thought the crowd might have been more, especially with the efforts that have been made to get people interested in the club recently. Had it not been for the Wealdstone fans it would have only just been over 500. I know it is early and people are away, but I thought it might have been nearer 750 if only for some people coming along for the first time out of curiosity.

McCootie starting so strong is a real boost this season. I also thought that every new player played as well as if not better than their predecessor. We rode our luck and Wealdstone will be kicking themselves for not scoring in the first 10 minute periods of both halves but a good start.

LB wrote:After the way last season started I think the result was probably more important than the performance, especially as we were at home.

Have to agree with most of the comments above - not a great deal appears to have changed from last season.  Again we seemed to play very deep on occasions, and too often resorted to the long ball forward - if we are going to do that then McCootie needs to be on from the start. I think last season we generally looked better with the ball on the ground.

Great finish from McCootie though.

I thought the crowd might have been more, especially with the efforts that have been made to get people interested in the club recently. Had it not been for the Wealdstone fans it would have only just been over 500. I know it is early and people are away, but I thought it might have been nearer 750 if only for some people coming along for the first time out of curiosity.

You really have to question whether Bath wants a football club at all.

I certainly question it! However, with so many away on holiday in August and other distractions going on, it's probably not the best time to draw too many conclusions. As LB mentioned, the result was all important yesterday. We rarely seem to get to the end of August with an unbeaten home record - it would be good to make Twerton a real fortress again.

I sold draw tickets to a few people for whom it was their first visit. Also heard a few in the stand.... so hopefully they'll come again. It is never gonna grow quickly.

2weirdtown wrote:

LB wrote:After the way last season started I think the result was probably more important than the performance, especially as we were at home.

Have to agree with most of the comments above - not a great deal appears to have changed from last season.  Again we seemed to play very deep on occasions, and too often resorted to the long ball forward - if we are going to do that then McCootie needs to be on from the start. I think last season we generally looked better with the ball on the ground.

Great finish from McCootie though.

I thought the crowd might have been more, especially with the efforts that have been made to get people interested in the club recently. Had it not been for the Wealdstone fans it would have only just been over 500. I know it is early and people are away, but I thought it might have been nearer 750 if only for some people coming along for the first time out of curiosity.

You really have to question whether Bath wants a football club at all.

Non-league clubs don't get fans handed to them on a plate - we have to work hard to earn them, and then keep them.

There wasn't a single thing anywhere around the town to promote the first game of the season. The Bid has clearly lifted the profile of the club and interest in it - but how are people with a new found or passing interest in City supposed to know when games are if they aren't being promoted ? The club needs to be in people's faces much much more.

Given that the club never promotes fixtures, it's a mystery how anybody turns up to be honest.

With the bid total still a long way short you would have hoped that the increased profile generated by the bid would have attracted a good crowd. Whilst I agree the club isn't very good at promotional things you would expect anyone interested in the big bid would then take some interest in things like official website, forum, twitter Facebook etc

Well said, Steve. I know it is through your efforts, but one place in town where the fixtures are displayed is in Flan O'Briens, Westgate St. They were only too pleased to advertise the Pat Nevin and Escape to Victory events when I popped in last week. I hope City fans repay their support when they want a drink in town! And do forum members drink in other pubs who could display posters?

Bristol Mike wrote:With the bid total still a long way short you would have hoped that the increased profile generated by the bid would have attracted a good crowd. Whilst I agree the club isn't very good at promotional things you would expect anyone interested in the big bid would then take some interest in things like official website, forum, twitter Facebook etc

Yes, that's a good point. To be fair, those Bid supporters who have given us their contact details are mailed weekly newsletters. Last week's included...

Today - Bath City v Wealdstone, 3pm
Make sure you're there and bring friends and family. We can't do this just from core fans, so the more people you get involved in Bath City, the better chance we have of success. And enjoy the game!

was away so watched the highlights (thanks stones fans); sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere but great to see on the stones site that their manager is in his 20th year in the position!!  Fantastic.