Another black mark against Bath City as Staines steal win at the death
Match report: BATH CITY 0 STAINES TOWN 1 (Marsh 88)
Tyrone Marsh struck two minutes from time as struggling Staines Town inflicted defeat on a lacklustre Bath City.
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Marcus Gayle’s side arrived at Mayday Trust Park with the worst defensive record in Blue Square Bet South but the hosts never really tested Staines, who rightfully left with all three points to leapfrog the Romans in the table after shading a dour contest.
Meanwhile, the future of City boss Lee Howells is unclear, with the first-team coach having lengthy conversations with chairman Manda Rigby and director of football Adie Britton and unwilling to speak to the media following the defeat.
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With no league fixtures taking place in Bristol, the contest was billed as Pack the Park, with fans of both Bristol City and Rovers invited to Mayday Trust Park. The impressive crowd of more than 1,000 will leave disappointed, though, as the on-field action failed to match their enthusiasm.
Home goalkeeper Jason Mellor was the standout performer in an uninspiring first 45 minutes, with the City stopper making several good saves to keep Staines at bay.
Marsh was thwarted by the sprawling Mellor’s legs, with the Bath number one also getting down well to keep out Jerel Ifil’s shot from the edge of the box.
Louis-Rae Beadle fired high and wide after a good cross from visiting skipper David Wheeler, while it took City 20 minutes to test Staines keeper Jack Turner, although a fairly routine save was all that was needed to stop Mark Preece’s header.
Marsh and Wheeler saw further efforts denied by Mellor, with the introduction of Kerry Morgan after 35 minutes finally adding some impetus to the home side’s play.
Josh Low limped off with a hamstring problem and Morgan looked lively straight away, picking out Chris Allen with a good cross in first-half stoppage time, which was only kept out by a desperate Jordan Brown block.
City’s best chances came early in the second half, with Preece seeing a header from Mark Canham’s corner cleared off the line, while Adam Connolly shot wide when well placed. Debutant Elliott Chamberlain helped on Morgan’s pass but Connolly failed to hit the target when challenged by the on-rushing Turner.
Morgan then fired over the top after a good jinking run from Chamberlain before Staines regained control in the closing stages.
When Mellor pulled off a stunning one-handed save from Wheeler with five minutes to play the game looked destined to end goalless but Marsh finally found a way past the City stopper soon afterwards.
Staines caught the hosts on the counter, with Wheeler racing up the left and crossing into the box. Although Gethin Jones was able to get his body in the way, the ball fell kindly to Marsh, who made no mistake from ten yards.
The defeat means Bath are without a league win since early January and they have now fallen to 18th in the table. They face a tough task to rectify their plight on Tuesday night when they travel to sixth-placed Farnborough.
BATH CITY: Mellor, Simpson, Ball, Jones, Preece, Canham, Connolly, Burnell, Griffin (Chamberlain 54), Allen (Brown 69), Low (Morgan 35). Subs not used: Walker, Keates.
STAINES TOWN: Turner, Mills, Brown, Ferrell, Page, Ifil, Wheeler (Drage 90), Ferguson, Marsh, Beadle (Taylor 79), Lodge. Subs not used: Garrod, Merson, Worsfold.
Referee: Mark Pottage (Gillingham)
Attendance: 1,073
11 Comments
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by RomanRoad
Tuesday, February 05 2013, 2:45PM
“DLS198733 - Why use an article about on-field performances to have a go at the Society ?! They don't pick the team or the manager, and they've stated publically that they're open-minded on the prospect of a Stadium move - so where is the quarrel over TP ? And the Society DOES help the club a hell of a lot - including putting money into the Players Pledge (do you contribute btw?), paying 2 squad members an additional £100 a week each in wages, and surely the over 200 people who packed Charlies and Randalls on Friday for a Society film night - the vast majority who had never been near TP before - can't have skipped your attention ? Those people spent a small fortune at the bar and the club will no doubt get future venue bookings from the new visitors as well, plus the chunk of ticket income that is going to the club on top of all that. So why use the woeful state of affairs on the pitch to have uninformed goes at unrelated parts of the club for no reason ?”
by Kendo53
Monday, February 04 2013, 9:52PM
“ByKendo53
I have also followed City man and boy 45 years, season ticket holder since I don't know when.
You show your support, your way, by putting the boot in, I will try and follow the legions example on Saturday and stick with the lads to the end.
Thank goodness we will never agree.”
by WestonRay
Monday, February 04 2013, 7:58PM
“I have n't. Missed a home game in five years but don't let that get in the way of anything.
Supported city man and boy but coming to the end of my support under the present management,like many others.”
by Kendo53
Monday, February 04 2013, 7:42PM
“By Kendo53
Turn the fire down Weston Ray, it's the die hards that give you something to criticise, without us you would have to find another outlet for your drivel.
Last Saturday we had fans from local teams pay to help the club, did you?”
by WestonRay
Monday, February 04 2013, 7:17PM
“Adie should walk,at any other football club in the country he'd be history.
Blame the so called 300 die hards for putting up with him but where as it got us.”
by Kendo53
Monday, February 04 2013, 6:55PM
“By kendo53
Blame Adie, who could have gone into league management 18 months ago,blame Manda, we were debt free before she arrived,I think not.
How about some blame going to football fans in the area, who, even when we were boxing,way above our weight in the con prem, you still failed to come down to Twerton and part with some cash.
Leave it to the usual 500 to keep it going, you stay by your warm fire, but when City go to the wall, don't blame us, blame yourselves.”
by WestonRay
Sunday, February 03 2013, 11:14AM
“He should walk away now,he's brought the club down.Director of Football ,have you ever heard the like at such a small club,it's laughable.
What a mess we are in.”
by matlaske
Sunday, February 03 2013, 10:48AM
“AB may have got her to take the job but she is still his boss. I think the stumbling block to getting rid of him is the amount of money the club owes him”
by WestonRay
Saturday, February 02 2013, 10:24PM
“Adie gave Maddie her job,hardly going to sack him is she.”
by matlaske
Saturday, February 02 2013, 8:52PM
“It don't matter who is head coach/manager things will not change while Britton is is pulling the strings,someone like Tony Ricketts or Gary Owers or even Paul Bodin would not put up with his interference. And why do a club this size need a director of football”