Bath City (1)4 Gosport Borough (0)0

[Kelston Koppite]

Bath City bounced back to winning ways at Twerton Park against Gosport Borough, a side that has proved problematical for The Romans over recent meetings.  Whilst the final four goal margin of victory may appear comfortable, it was a scoreline that somewhat flattered Gary Owers' men against a team that dominated possession for long periods during the first hour.

There was an element of doubt whether the game would go ahead as problems were obviously being experienced with the floodlights, but they sprang to life just in time for the players to emerge from the tunnel.

The opening exchanges were largely uneventful and it took 10 minutes for the home side to pose any danger to the Borough defence.  Nick McCootie, who was a constant menace upfront, powered his way goalwards but eventually sliced his shot well wide of the far post.  The striker then burst away down the right flank and found Naby Diallo in a good position with his cross, but the Cityman completely missed his kick and the chance was lost.

Gosport almost took the lead after 16 minutes when Joshua Carmichael had a clear sight of goal, but Max O’Leary produced a brilliant save to turn the ball round his post.  The visitors were now enjoying the vast majority of possession in the midfield areas and Callum Cunniffe lifted his 22nd minute shot narrowly over O’Leary’s crossbar after some neat approach work.  Carmichael then delivered a dangerous cross into the City area from the right that just evaded Dan Wooden’s outstretched leg.

Billy Murphy sent a long diagonal free kick into the Gosport box on 28 minutes that narrowly failed to pick out McCootie and, at the other end, Warren Bentley sent a dipping volley over the home bar from just inside the box.

The deadlock was broken on 33 minutes when Shaquille Hunter was needlessly brought down in the area by Cunniffe, and the referee, Mr. Savvas Yianni, pointed to the spot.  Hunter dusted himself down, and confidently found the corner of the net from 12 yards.

Borough tried to find an immediate response, but Wooden’s speculative effort from distance was high and wide of the target, and Aaron Dawson’s effort eight minutes before the break suffered a similar fate.

As half time approached, McCootie robbed Sam Pearce and advanced towards goal, but his shot from 20 yards was wide of the far post.

The second period began with Gosport again taking control of possession as they wnet in search of an equaliser.  Tom Bird’s cross from wide on the left found Bentley, but his header was wide of O’Leary’s far post.  Ben Wright then wasted a free kick on the edge of the box as his dead ball effort drifted over the bar and high into the Bristol End terracing.

Wright had an even better opportunity to level on 58 minutes when a ball in from the right found him completely unmarked in front of goal, but he clipped his shot tamely over the crossbar.

Chas Hemmings was replaced by Dan Bowman on 59 minutes and this proved an inspirational introduction, as the substitute began to terrorise the visitors down the right flank with his injection of pace.

Skipper Dan Ball produced a surging run out wide on the left, and his eventual cross was deflected just wide of the near post.  Whilst the resulting corner came to nothing, the home side were suddenly galvanised into action, and their advantage was duly doubled on 65 minutes.  McCootie picked up the ball inside the Gosport area, turned and twisted beyond his marker, and planted an angled shot into the far corner of the net beyond the hapless keeper.

The game was put out of Borough’s reach seven minutes later, when Bowman’s dazzling trickery out on the right bought him the time and space to pick out Diallo 12 yards from goal, who made no mistake with his low shot.

Gosport were now clearly disheartened and City were in complete control.  Hunter curled a shot narrowly over Martin Rice’s bar from the angle of the box on 76 minutes before he made way for Josh Hutchinson, and Stuart Fleetwood replaced the understandably tiring McCootie.

Rice made a good diving save to push Diallo’s goalbound shot round the far post, but he was again beaten after 87 minutes.  Hutchinson raced into the area and was unceremoniously upended by a defender, leaving Mr. Yianni little choice but to award the second penalty of the evening.  Hutchinson sent the custodian the wrong way as he calmly stroked his spot kick into the bottom corner of the net.

This victory was a much needed tonic after the disappointment of the last two defeats and, in the end, City deserved their victory for their clinical finishing when the opportunities eventually came their way.  Gosport will be wondering how they lost this match by such a margin but, whilst they controlled the midfield for long spells, they largely failed to create clear cut chances and, when they did find an opening, their finishing was woeful. City will now go into Saturday’s important home FA Cup clash with Oxford City with confidence restored.

Bath City;  Max O’Leary, George Rigg, Dan Ball, Chas Hemmings (Dan Bowman 59), Manny Monthe, Jack Batten, Naby Diallo, Billy Murphy, Nick McCootie (Stuart Fleetwood 82), Shaquille Hunter (Josh Hutchinson 80), Frankie Artus, Subs not used; Lee Matthews, Harry Hickford.

Gosport Borough:  Martin Rice, Callum Cunniffe, Tom Bird, Joshua Carmichael, Joe Oastler, Sam Pearce, Aaron Dawson, Ben Harding, Ben Wright, Warren Bentley, Dan Wooden.  Subs: Adam Wilde, Jamie Barron, Adam Brice, Oliver Bailey, Chris Flood.

Referee:  Mr. Savvas Yianni

Attendance: 331