| When I was a youngster, it was January 1981 I think, I was taken to my first ever football match. It was Aston Villa v's Liverpool and not understanding the whole 'League' concept I thought it was awfully good of the great Liverpool team to come and play them that day. |
| Roll on more than two decades and we have the same situation, as the Mighty Bath City, much too good for this league and the likes of City, Cirencester, Dunstable etc allow us to play at their superb Twerton Park stadium. |
| Given the local derby nature of the game and the close geographical proximity there were a disapponting number of Tigers' fans in the crowd, but hey you couldn't blame them what with the £7.50 admission, £1.90 for a programme and upto £3.80 for a burger. There was also the obstacle of the dodgy looking geezer doing weird things with his tongue stood out by the gate. |
| What a welcome to Bath! |
| Chris Burns made wholesale changes to his starting eleven. Most notably veteran striker Karl Bayliss took the number nine shirt, despite being told by doctors to hang up his boots two years ago. Matt Aubrey, far from successful up front slotted into the centre of defence with great aplomb and the other loanee Lee Davis played the whole game in the heart of midfield. |
| For Bath there was a change in goal as Justin Shuttlewood, a goalkeeper so stupid that he once forgot to take his coathanger out of his shirt was replaced by Gloucester based Stuart Fraser. Matt Coupe, a defender who'd had a brief spell at Meadow Park played in the heart of defence and John Williams, the "Flying Postman" was up front. |
| I've been a postman for years but never known any that could fly. The nearest we got was the Churchdown Flyer, but that was Dickie the Mong, which brings us nicely along to many of the home fans at Twerton Park! |
| Due to some kind of cock-up the Tigers only had their white away shirts, which would clash with the black and white of our hosts, so Burnsy's men took to the field in the Yellow shirts of Bath's reserve team. That mean't that for the first time in history a competitive football match took place with not only the two teams wearing Bath City shirts, but also the referee and both of his assistants were attired in the home teams' kit as well. |
| City could've had the best start possible when Jimmy Cox got onto a Neil Griffiths header from a corner but the keeper got a hand to his drive to send it over the bar. Baylo rolled back the years when he showed tremendous determination to win back a ball that seemed lost and in the process got fouled by Coupe, but Mustoe's free kick was wasted. |
| It was becoming difficult to keep control of the ball at a very windy Twerton Park but Adie Harris coped well enough to send over a cross that Lee Smith headed down only for the keeper to push away. In fairness the City man didn't get enough on his header but Fraser performed for the possee of photographers by spectactularly diving and pawing the ball behind. |
| Bath had their first chance but it came to nothing and followed it with a header that just bounced wide of the post. They then had a shot from outside the box that Matt Bath had to be alert to as it fizzed through a crowd of players. |
| Right in front of Chris Burns' dugout Adie Harris found himself victim of a dreadful late tackle as he played a ball up the wing. The referee ran past, took a look at the prone City winger, shook his head and ran away waving play on, an action that riled up the City boss. Mental note to the referee, when you, like Harris get into your forties and play football for fun, you don't go down looking for fouls. |
| With little justice moments earlier smiles were put on the City faces when Jimmy Cox scored with half an hour gone. A nice ball from Lee Davis left Cox with just ex-Bristol Rovers defender Mike Trought between him and goal, but he was no obstacle as the City hotshot (or 'twinkle toes' to the Bath fans) accelerated past him and slotted the ball inside the far post. |
| Russell Milton, the former scummer who's at Bath for one last payday before his age catches up with him came off injured, to be replaced by another ex-League star in Bobby Ford. |
| Mistakes have been City's greatest foe recently and have done more to contribute to the recent poor form than the talents of the opposition. It could've been a case of the same again as a defensive header from Neil Griffiths was too strong for Matt Bath and needed to be cleared from under the posts by Matt Aubrey. |
| A nice interchange of passes between Smith and Cox left Jimmy one on one with the keeper and the Hucclecote stopper did well to deny the Longlevens man. It was a nice pass from the Coney Hill winger and would've made this Tredworth lad cheer if the team from Hempsted had gone two up. |
| The Flying Postman was clearly on a tea break when a cross was headed back to him but he only stood and watched while the danger was cleared. The Romans weren't finished though and got a lucky equaliser before the break. Suspicions among the City fans suggested that the game would continue until Bath got a goal, so five minutes into stoppage time they were gifted a soft penalty. The Bath player crossed the ball just as Davis stuck his hand up and said "Ref our half time cuppas are getting cold, you gonna blow up or what?" |
| Well known for his hard shot, Matt Bath had no chance as Williams converted the spot kick, but bizarrely the referee stopped play as soon as the ball went in and didn't bother to kick off again. |
| Burnsy's half time team talk was cut short because he waited out on the pitch to 'have a word' with the referee, but we all know that only makes things worse as he'd favour the home team even more in the second period. I'm sure he'd much rather upset a small travelling contingent that have to bear the ire of the home fans and directors whilst trying to have a quiet pint after the game. |
| Adie Harris, still suffering from the earlier foul by Coupe that never happened was replaced by Kenny Stiles at left wing back. Not a defender, it showed as the ex-Pegasus man was booked less than ten seconds into the half when he tangled with the Bath winger as he cut in towards goal. It might've been worse for Kenny had the official been influenced by the neaderathal pleas of "Off, Off, Off" coming from the moaners bank along the side of the pitch. |
| The home team had made a change at the break too, goalscorer Williams left the field with a hamstring pull amid suggestions that he'd hit the penalty so hard that he'd hurt himself. His replacement, ex-Chippenham and FGR forward Steve Tweddle went on a jinking run in the box and laid the ball off for a shot that Bath had to get down smartly to keep out. |
| Shouts of handball against the Romans' defender were ignored as a promising Lee Smith run was ended abruptly by a sliding tackle on the edge of the penalty area as City took the game by the scruff of the neck. Neil Mustoe's shot from a free kick was deflected behind after Stiles had been cut down whilst on a surging run forward and the substitute was unlucky to see his header smack the post from the ensuing corner. |
| Karl Bayliss was withdrawn having done well to last an hour and was replaced by equally unfit striker Andy Hoskins. His first action saw him race onto a Jimmy Cox pass where the keeper did well to slide out of his area and kick the ball to safety but from the other angle it looked as though there might've been foul play from the Bath number one. |
| The second booking of the night came for City when Neil Griffiths mistimed a tackle on the Bath forward as he got ahead of him. These games often see a flurry of yellow cards for the Tigers so it was no surprise to learn that the referee had already written the names and numbers of our lot into his notepad before the game expecting just to tick them off as he went along. |
| Towards the end of the game Matt Bath reacted well to hold a shot on the turn and the Tigers might've pinched it when a move involving the impressive looking Stiles, Cox and Smith was turned behind as Hosky waited to punce. |
| It was a good point for City as they try to get their season back on track following a disasterous run of results but Bath, the slumbering giant expecting to walk this league must be shite if they can't beat us on their own pitch. |
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| Tiger Roar Man of the Match - Jimmy Cox |
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Jimmy Cox
Star Man |
Dubbed "Twinkle Toes" by the Bath City fans after a short spell in early 2000, Jimmy returned to Twerton Park tonight and made a mug out of Mike Trought to score. It would've been the winner but for a generous penalty award.
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