Match Report

Clevedon Town 0 Bath City 2

Bath City gained revenge for their 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Clevedon last September by winning 2-0 in a hectic and, at times, controversial game, going 10 points clear at the top of the table and with promotion now surely guaranteed. Both sides gave their all but it has to be said that as the game went on, Bath’s superior skills and pace began to tell and they were worthy winners on the night.

The best gate of the season, 456, saw a lively start by both sides and the big crowd created a great atmosphere within the ground. The first moment of note was sadly Mitchell Page having to be substituted by Clevedon as early as the 20th minute after picking up an injury, allowing Daine O’Connor a rare opportunity to show what he can do. Just minutes later Bath went ahead in controversial fashion after they were fortuitously awarded a free kick outside their own box, with suspicions of handball against a defender. The free kick was hurriedly taken about 5 yards from the actual incident but the referee allowed play to continue, despite Clevedon protests. Lewis Hogg’s pass found Darren Edwards on the right and his fierce cross cum shot was unfortunately glanced home by Billy Clark for an own goal, to the sheer delight of the many visiting fans, but to cries of 1-0 to the referee from the home fans, with some justification for his part in the free kick that led to the goal. Credit to Bath though as they pressed forward trying to capitalize on their advantage and minutes later it was 2-0 when Martin Paul (not Paul Martin as listed on the team sheet!) sent in a cross to the near post for Darren Edwards to power home a header ahead of Scott Hendy.

To Clevedon’s great credit they kept their heads up, when it would have been easy to roll over and lay down and Paul Evans in the visitor’s goal pulled off a great save to deny Matt Rawlins curling long range effort and minutes later denied Romhdane with another long range shot. Clevedon continued to pres forward in numbers and Jones cleared Jack Pitcher’s overhead shot off the line before Scott Hendy was similarly denied, this time by Lewis Hogg’s goal line clearance, in a thrilling end to a first half that saw both sides pressing but Bath taking their chances.

The second half was only minutes old when Danny Haines was denied, again by Paul Evans, but the Romans were now pushing forward in numbers themselves and some delightful one touch football opened up the home defence too often for comfort. However a combination of brave defending, great goalkeeping by Danny Greaves and some wayward shooting kept the score line to 2-0, although another goal line clearance, this time by former Clevedon favourite, Matt Coupe, denied Scott Hendy at the other end. Surprisingly there was no change in the score line as the game moved towards its end, but there was still time for Danny Greaves top pull off two more great saves and for Danny Haines to be shown a red card for a second rash challenge, before the final whistle blew. The visiting fans went wild with delight, aided perhaps by the news that Kings Lynn had lost at Yate, and credit to them for their vocal support on an entertaining evening for the supporters of both sides. Bath may now go on to clinch the title but Clevedon still have a lot of work to do to ensure safety, although if they play with the same effort as they put in tonight they should secure their Premier status.

Team Sheet

No:	Name:	Sub:
1	Greaves
2	Vickerman
3	Bater
4	Romhdane
5	Hendy
6	Clark
7	Page
8	Scott (Capt)
9	Pitcher
10	Rawlins
11	Haines
12	Jacobs
14	O'Connor	7
15	-
16	-
17	-
Own Goal	-

Match Details

Date:	27/03/07
Competition:	British Gas Business Southern League Premier Division
Opponents:	Bath City
Venue:	The Hand Stadium Davis Lane Clevedon North Somerset BS21 6TG
Half Time:	0 - 2
Full Time:	0 - 2
Attendance:	456
Match Report:	Steve Small
Photographs:	-
Notes:

Downloads

Appearances & Goal Scorers	Word Document
Team Sheet Matrix	Excel Document