Reaching breaking point?

After not updating the blog after the Tonbridge game, due to frustration at not getting the three points City deserved, this is now a update of the moment the wheels seem to have fallen off.

Against Tonbridge the stripes played some good football, attacked at will and generally did enough to win the game, Tonbridge had two shots all game, one in the first minute and one 89 minutes later, and they scored from both. So a draw was snatched from the jaws of victory, and the Romans had every right to feel hard done by. This was compounded on the Tuesday when another 89^th minute goal sunk City (there was also time for an unfairly disallowed goal that would have given City a deserved, or so I am told, draw) So after taking 1 from 6, that should have been 4 from 6, City welcomed stuttering Dover Athletic to Twerton Park.

Dover Athletic are perennial promotion challengers, but arrived at Twerton on the back of a four game losing streak, surely giving City the confidence to right the wrongs of the last week. Somehow though, you just knew it wasn’t going to happen and in conversations with other stripes there was a sense of foreboding about the game, with the prevailing feeling being “Dover are due, and we never seem to beat them” with that being the feeling, I genuinely considered not turning up, and I like the other City fans in the 551 crowd wish I didn’t.

City were clueless, completely and utterly devoid of ideas, invention, ability and even, more damningly desire. The few bright points were Jason Mellor, who manfully kept the score down (that you can lose 2-0 and the keeper still gets MOTM says a lot) Dave Pratt who bless him battles and fights despite being often the only man within 30 yards of the opposition goal, and Ross Stearn who again provided a few highlights with runs and a general narky demeanour which a la Hogg means he does get stuck in.

Other than that there is nothing I can say good about City’s performance, the whole ground was silent as time after time Dover sliced the stripes open, the game could have easily ended 5 or 6 nil to Dover, and City in the few moments they did touch the ball in the first half were utterly pathetic when coming to use it. I honestly cannot put into words how awful City played, while it is harsh to single out any one player, Ben Adelsbury continued his quest to not impress me, I don’t get what he offers that Keats doesn’t, and would rather have played Allen who would have tried to close the gaping chasm between the midfield and the attackers, with Allen offering a bit of subtlety and craft that Connolly, Keats and Adelsbury don’t.

Things did improve in the second half, but not really by anywhere near enough and it was a sweet relief when the referee did bring proceedings to a close. There was a smattering of boos, but mainly everyone drifted away feeling fed up and annoyed with how things went. With the FA Cup game next Saturday against Gosport Borough (potentially the least inspiring cup tie we could have got) now taking on massive importance, for financial and prestige reasons I have so little faith that we’ll be able to do anything that I am genuinely for the first time in years considering not going to a home game, we will see how the mood takes me, but I cannot face another 90 minutes of that dirge.

What a difference a week makes.

After the awfulness of the game against Gosport Borough, and the postponed game against Farnborough (who at the time of writing, have been readmitted to the league, sans their stupid Paddy Power inspired name changing stunt) City reconvened at Twerton Park to take on the second promoted team in a week Concord Rangers.

Concord Rangers are from the Essex, Canvey Island to be precise. I have to admit to being shocked that Canvey Island could support another reasonable sized non league team, given Canvey Island’s FA Cup exploits of a few years ago, and given the population of just under 40,000 I am still surprised by this fact. However, since Canvey Island FC resigned from the Conference in 2006 due to financial difficulties, Concord have become the pre-eminent team for the island.

Concord’s unusual name comes from the beach they used to train by when formed, and contributes to their “Beach Boys” nickname.

City restored Keats to the line up in place of Burnell, while Will Salmon, who has joined on a short term contract, started at full back. Salmon has an uncanny resemblance to Ben Adlesbury, and led to constantly having to explain to people who was actually on the ball.

The Beach Boys started strongly and almost scored within the opening moments when a curling shot was lashed from range which left the post shuddering, thankfully some good vibrations for City (sorry…)

Concord were dominating the early stages of the game, but City slowly started to get into the game, and scored a cracker on 15 minutes. City were awarded a free kick about 20 yards from goal, Ross Stearn lined up the free kick and hammered a dipping shot that crashed against the underside of the bar and bounced into the net before the keeper had even moved. An absolute stunner of a free kick, that Cristiano Ronaldo would have been happy to score.

After this City took firm control of the half, and in reality should have scored again. David Pratt, who was lively all afternoon, robbed the keeper and once he took control of it tried to chip it into the net, unfortunately the keeper back peddled quickly enough to manage to get a clawing hand to the ball, which dropped just wide.

The half time whistle blew with City in the ascendancy and looking good for their lead. So, rather typically after half time the tide turned a bit. Rangers were attacking with a bit more fluency, although their eventual goal had more than an element of farce about it.

Just before the hour, Collin’s collected the ball, and fired off a fairly tame shot that was straight at Jason Mellor, the big keeper went down to collect the ball, and in a scene reminiscent of Massimo Taibi and Matt Le Tissier, Mellor missed the ball completely and it rolled between his legs and into the net. The keeper looked crestfallen, but given his good form since wresting the number 1 shirt from Glyn Garner last year, he was due a cock up!

The stripes though, were not to be denied, and almost immediately regained their lead. Ross Stearn had switched flanks during an attack and found himself wide on the left, the winger moved towards the corner of the box where he received the ball, Stearn took the ball around a few defenders before firing in a shot from the edge of the area. The ball seemed to bounce, and I think the keeper may have got a hand to it but the ball ended up in the back of the net.

This goal seemed to lift the Romans, and City were then in complete control, the lead was increased on 69 minutes when they won a free kick in the corner. The ball was floated  across the box and Will Salmon headed the ball back across goal, Pratt was inches away from connecting and all thought the chance had gone, however, the ball rebounded off a player into the crowd in the six yard box and Mark Preece managed to get his foot up to the ball and put it into the goal. 3-1 and the game was won.

After the appalling performance in the last game, this was a welcome return to form for City, and left everyone leaving the ground with a much greater feeling than the week before. Bizarrely, an American online football show has decided to support Bath City for the season, so I’m sure there will be some cheers from them for the good win by the Romans.