Slough Town (0)0 Bath City (0)0

[Kelston Koppite]

Bath City continued their excellent run of results with a hard fought draw against Slough Town at Arbour Park on a cold Berkshire evening. In an even contest during which the City defence had to withstand several periods of Slough pressure, the visitors created the better chances, and only the brilliance of home keeper Jack Turner prevented them from taking all three points.

With the ball zipping about on the artificial surface, the away side had a scare in the second minute when Kevin Amankwaah inadvertently turned Lee Togwell’s low cross towards his own goal forcing Ryan Clarke into an excellent blocking save, and the keeper recovered quickly to gather Louie Soares’ follow up effort.

Debutant Freddie Hinds, who was lively all match, found Adam Mann with his 6th minute ball in from the right but the Cityman’s shot was wide of the target from the edge of the box. At the other end, Josh Jackman’s effort from outside the box was wide of Clarke’s post.

Ben Harris raced after a long ball down the left but was halted by a sliding challenge from the outrushing Clarke. The keeper appeared to take the ball cleanly but, with the locals baying for blood, the referee, Mr. Lee Brennan, showed him a harsh looking yellow card. Indeed, this was to set the tone for the remainder of the game, as the referee embarked on a ‘one-man mission’ to book as many City players as he was able.

The Rebels had the ball in the Bath net through Lee Togwell in the 19th minute, but he was denied by an offside flag. Robbie Cundy and Jack Batten soon entered the referee’s notebook for fouls on Harris as the game fell into a period of midfield stalemate. On 27 minutes, Hinds played the ball inside to Mann, whose low shot from 25 yards brought a diving save from Turner.

Joe Raynes was the next to incur the wrath of Mr. Brennan and was cautioned for a challenge on Simon Dunn on the half way line. Harris tried his luck with a free kick from distance, but the ball flew high over Clarke’s crossbar and out of the ground. In the 36th minute, Frankie Artus also attempted an optimistic shot from 35 yards that was well wide of Turner’s goal.

City had a good chance to take the lead three minutes before the break when Hinds played the ball into the path of the unmarked Ross Stearn on the edge of the box, but the wideman lost control at the crucial moment allowing Turner to smother. The final action of the half saw a Bath corner cleared to the edge of the box, where Hinds’ first time rising shot was well held by Turner.

Slough began the second half in the ascendancy and City were pinned back in their own half for extended periods. On 47 minutes, Louie Soares crossed from the right and picked out Dunn, who lifted his shot over the bar from a decent position.

Matt Richards was introduced for the injured Amankwaah after 49 minutes, but the Slough pressure continued. Guy Hollis’ long throw in was headed over the bar by Harris, and George Wells’ half volley from the point of the box was confidently gathered by Clarke. The City stopper then produced an excellent save to keep out Scott Davies’ goalbound shot from inside the area.

Wells flashed another shot across the Clarke’s goal in the 62nd minute after some neat passing movement by the hosts. Three minutes later Anthony Straker was shown a yellow card by Mr. Brennan for alleged timewasting over a throw-in in an attacking position.

Mann slipped a ball through to Hinds on 66 minutes, and the forward twisted and turned before striking his eventual shot across goal and narrowly wide of Turner’s far post. The Romans were now coming more into the game and Tom Smith latched on to Clarke’s long downfield ball before his lofted shot dropped the wrong side of the far post. Smith was then replaced by the returning Sean Rigg with 12 minutes remaining.

On 80 minutes, Raynes delivered a free kick into the danger area which was nodded down by Cundy to Hinds. The striker showed great skill in turning his man, and his eventual volleyed shot was repelled by a breath-taking save from Turner who kept the ball out of the top corner at the expense of a corner.

Mr. Brennan’s crusade continued with the caution of Richards, following which Dunn’s effort was deflected for a home corner, which came to nothing.

Despite the best efforts of the referee, it was now almost exclusively Bath pressure and they came desperately close to scoring a late winner when Hinds’ shot struck the outside of the post with Turner well beaten. The same player then saw his low free kick from the edge of the box pass just wide of the near post.

The last opening of the game was created by Rigg whose cross from the left found Mann beyond the far post, but he was stretching and consequently unable to direct his shot on target.

This was a well-earned point for City against a strong Slough team and, with both sides boasting excellent defensive records this season, there should be no great surprise that the game finished goalless. There is no doubt that the visitors had the better of the chances and only the width of the post, and a stunning save from Turner, prevented what would have been another outstanding victory on the road for Jerry Gill’s men. The side again showed great resilience when under pressure in the early stages of the second half, and evidenced their fitness as they pressed strongly for a decisive goal in the final 20 minutes. However, the final word must go to the referee. Given that the game was always competitive but never brutal, the card count of 6 for City and 2 for Slough was bizarre and unnecessary in the extreme, and Mr. Brennan gave a series of truly mindboggling decisions throughout.

Slough Town: Jack Turner, Josh Jackman, George Wells, Guy Hollis, Sam Togwell, Lee Togwell, Louie Soares, Simon Dunn, Ben Harris, Scott Davies, Warren Harris. Subs: Sean Fraser, James Dobson, Manny Williams, Dejon Noel-Williams, Mark Nisbet.

Bath City: Ryan Clarke, Kevin Amankwaah (Matt Richards 48), Anthony Straker, Jack Batten, Robbie Cundy, Frankie Artus, Joe Raynes, Tom Smith (Sean Rigg 78), Adam Mann, Freddie Hinds, Ross Stearn. Subs not used; Dan Ball, Harvey Wiles-Richards

Referee: Mr. Lee Brennan

Attendance: 520

[tovid]

Thanks Kelston.

I must say by and large the refs have been better this season and the ones out of their depth, like this one, merely serve to emphasize that. I have not been as apoplectic in games as in previous seasons and I thought it must be me mellowing. Last night I was able to let the commentary team do the ranting.

But given the circumstances I think the lads did remarkably well to
a) keep a full complement on the pitch and
b) come away with a point.

[Kelston Koppite]

Thanks Kelston.

I must say by and large the refs have been better this season and the ones out of their depth, like this one, merely serve to emphasize that. I have not been as apoplectic in games as in previous seasons and I thought it must be me mellowing. Last night I was able to let the commentary team do the ranting.

As people who know me are aware, I am not one to criticise referees (!!!) but the referee last night was absolutely clueless. There were a couple of the bookings that were perhaps justified, but he was just showing yellow cards for fun (mostly against City). A number of his decisions were questionable and the icing on the cake was when he gave a free kick to City for a foul on Robbie Cundy towards the end of the match and then pointed the wrong way. There was a sense of complete disbelief and derision around the ground from both camps. He seemed completely out of his depth.

Hopefully we will get better officials for the next two home games.

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