The Second Annual DUYC End of Season Awards...

Goal of the season
1) Not even a City player this one, but it was heads and shoulders above any goal I have seen this season, Salisbury's third goal in the away game the Conference South website tells me it was Ryan Brett, although I thought it was someone else. But the goal was a thing of beauty, combining Gazza's Euro '96 goal flick with an edge of the box volley, superb.
2) Charlie Griffin - Dorchester Town (A) Everyone loves a freekick, and Griffin's was out of the top drawer, a wonderful curling effort which clipped the post of the way in past the despairing dive of ex-stripe Jason Matthews.
3) Sekani Simpson - Welling United (H) A goal from Simmo is always rare, but this goal was brilliant. The ball being charged down from the keeper by Allen, the curved run from the marauding full back to stay onside, the delightful chipped pass from Joe Burnell, then the best first touch in non league all year by Simmo to round the keeper with ease before rolling the ball home. Amazing.

Pub of the season
1) The winner isn't even a pub! But hands down winner of this is the Ye Olde Cider Bar in Newton Abbot. Words cannot describe the wonderfulness of this cider house, but by God good times were had, and I assume good times are always had in there! What a place, if you haven't been go, just go.
2) The Harp, Chando's Place, London. One time winner of CAMRA pub of the year, and it is easy to see why. It's close proximity to Charing Cross station makes it the perfect stopping point when travelling into Kent and the ever changing array of brilliant ales makes it a firm favourite with every football fan, as the place is normally full of fans on their way to games.
3) The Wyndham Arms, Salisbury. We didn't even visit this on our away day to Salisbury, but instead this pub saved the aborted away game to H&W just before Christmas, everyone being on the first day of their Christmas break, and the wonderful Hop Back beers on tap made this a very enjoyable day out.

Player of the season
1) Noah Keats. The young midfield terrier added bite and enthusiasm to a midfield that had grown worryingly pedestrian in the last few years. Not one to shirk a challenge, the boy can play as well, and with him confirmed as a retained player he can hopefully become a City legend in years to come.
2) Danny Ball. The young defender grew in stature as the season progressed, including a stint covering the right back position when Simpson was injured. While not ignoring that fact, it was while playing at centre back that Ball excelled, not the biggest of centre halves he is strong in the tackle and reads the game well. I hope that we manage to retain his services, but I fear bigger clubs may come sniffing for a player who has masses of potential.
3) Charlie Griffin. The burly frontman possess technique which marks him out as a player who has played at a higher level, and with there is no one you would rather see with the ball at his feet when faced with a one on one situation...which makes it all the more bizarre to me that he has been released this week, not a decision I fully support.

Best Away Day
1) Dover - This wins by the narrowest of margins, but pips it due to the pure carnage in The Castle pub in Dover. An evening of entertainment which involved full band kits, copious amounts of booze, singing, debauchery and also led to us meeting a befriending two American travellers who then experienced their first non league games at Twerton Park when visiting Palmer in Bath.
2) Buckland Athletic - The cider bar, the lovely little ground, winning the 50/50, losing glasses, ridiculousness, cider, cider, cider, cider.
3) Salisbury City - Wasn't great that it was a Tuesday, but the game was entertaining, the atmosphere was good (we were commended for our singing by the PA operator no less) and all in all a decent little trip.

Best Atmosphere
1) Maidenhead United (away) - A sizeable contingent of stripes (e.g. about half the crowd) meant this was almost like a home game for City, a good collection of singers, in a ground with low roofs meant that the noise was amplified and given that it fell in the middle of our good run, and we won the noise levels were amplified.
2) Staines (home) - Quite simply, I wasn't there, but everyone has told me the "Pack the Park" initiative meant that the sound levels went up and it was the best atmosphere of the season.
3) Chelmsford City (home) - More specifically the second half as City searched for an equaliser, the torrential rain forced everyone under the Popular Side roof, there was a genuine roar as the stripes attacked and the celebration was raucous when the ball finally hit the net.

Favourite moment of the season
1) Josh Low's last minute equaliser at home to Chelmsford City. As mentioned above, the pressure and noise was building inside Twerton Park. We were looking dangerously like we were about to be relegated to the Southern League as we were in dire form, had a tricky set of fixtures coming up and seemingly couldn't collect a point. Then in the pouring rain with City piling forward, a final high cross, a ridiculous leap from Low and the ball just sneaks under the cross bar, I have been told my celebration was animated to say the least but what a moment.
2) Kurtis Guthrie's hattrick at home to Maidenhead. The season was fresh, the first home game after the horror show of last season and our new centre forward scores three incredibly well taken goals. It is performances like that, which give football fans belief and hope. Admittedly none of it turned out the way we dreamt it might after that, but for a brief shining moment everything looked rosy.
3) Jim Rollo's return. After being delivered the horrible news on New Years Eve, that Jim was to leave to join Chippenham, imagine the unexpected delight when he returned home to Twerton Park 3 months later! A mini revival that coincided with his return (although to be fair he didn't play!) just adds to the mans godlike aura...

End of the season battering

The final game of the season was a particularly weird day, but given the vast fluctuations in mood of

this season, perhaps it was a fitting end.

A group of City boys convened in The Old Crown, Twerton, for “The Bath City boys big bake off”…now let that sink in. This is a group of lads, all under the age of 30, who are meeting in a pub, before a football game to compare each others baking efforts! It is definitely out of the ordinary for my match day, and I assume most other peoples!

On arriving, I was expecting a myriad of horrific cakes, soggy uncooked middles through to blackened smoking squares where a cake may once have been. So, imagine my surprise when despite my misgivings I arrived to see tables laden with superb looking cakes of all sizes, there was Palmers white chocolate and orange cupcakes, Reedy’s lemon drizzle cake (complete with toasted almonds spelling out CITY), Beavin’s fudge brownies/cakes (honestly not sure what they were but they were lush!) and a host of other amazing creations (special mention for the sugar paper Bath City badges!) so after gorging myself on cakes, the beer wasn’t going down quite so easily!

The baked produce created by surprisingly skilled stripes!

After offering cakes to the pub, and packing away we headed for Twerton Park, which was bathed in glorious sunshine, but in fitting with what has been a foul season for weather it was still surprisingly cold.

The stripes were welcoming division form team Sutton United to TP, who were on an eight game winning streak. Despite that it was City who had the ball in the net first, when a crap clearance from the keeper was closed down by Allen, the ball rolled to Charlie Griffin who finished, but was flagged offside.

Both Sutton and City exchanged blows for the next part of the game, with City having two shots which went over, and being indebted to Mellor for a cracking save. It was to be in vain though, when on 33 minutes a close range effort was scrambled home, Mellor managed to get a hand to it, but it was not enough to stop the ball creeping over the line.

From a Josh Low ball, Griffin tucked the ball home well, but was erroneously flagged offside, the big forward then almost scored from a corner, but it was Sutton who finished the strongest coming close on numerous occasions.

The second half I am not going to discuss in much detail, but in short City were overwhelmed by Sutton. They scored on the 52^nd minute, then a Dan Ball back pass was underhit and Mellor rushing from his line dragged down the onrushing attacker, nailed on penalty and we assumed a straight red, Mellor was reprieved but the penalty was lashed home.

Another goal was scored by Sutton to make it 0-4, but in truth it barely mattered. The only other real thing of note was Chris Allen went down in some discomfort, but it has since come out that it was only a dead leg and not a more serious injury.

The fans continued to sing, and actually despite the loss it was an ok day. We clapped the players off at the end and got the obligatory sideways thumbs up (if that’s even possible!) from Jim Rollo.

Then the joy of non league strikes again, after the players had left we went on the pitch for a kick about with a ball “liberated” from Sutton United, an enjoyable time was spent frolicking on the Twerton Park pitch, before City fan (and head of stewards) Shane told us to “Piss off, as I want a beer but can’t leave till you do” so we left, and had our last look at Twerton Park for the 2012/13 season.

Messing around on the pitch after the game

The season has been very mixed, some amazing performances and results, and some awful games and a dangerous flirt with relegation, while the less said about performance in the cups the better. Nevertheless, there are some positives in the strength of some of the younger players performances and optimism, as always in football, that next year could be better. Up the City!

P.s. coming soon(ish, e.g. when I can be arsed to write it) the Second Annual DUYC Awards!