F.A Cup 3^rd Qualifying Round

 

 

 

                                 Bath City      3        v             Sutton United   0

 

                                                                                                                                                

ATT   892

 

 

 

 

                     Before the game I saw in the match day programme that most of Bath's game had been high scoring encounter, for instance six games this season have finished with five goals or more. Bath have also got one of the worst defensive records in their league so it looked like a good high scoring hard fought game in store, but the only side that did the fighting was Bath.

                    The first half-hour of the first half was an even contest with both teams not making the most of their chances. On fifteen minutes Nko Ekoku brought down Holloway near the edge of the area, the resulting free kick was put into the area for Colin Towler to head wide but really should have done better. Two minutes later some good work by Danny Bolt split the defence allowing Scott Forrester to go one on one with Sal Bibbo. Forrester struck the ball well but Bibbo stood well and managed to save the shot. On twenty minutes Mark Harrington found himself on the edge of the area unmarked, unchallenged and with time to control the ball and released a shot, which flew well over the bar. With ten minutes left in the half Bath played the ball down the right wing as they had done all day but this time Mike Davis was able to square the ball to Graham Colbourne who side footed the ball past Gareth Howells who would have been unhappy at the way the defence left Colbourne so open.

                     Although Sutton had the better possession they still rarely had a shot at goal. Sutton best chance came with ten minutes gone in the second half when Thompson went up to meet a cross along with the Bath keeper. Bibbo was able to punch the ball as far as Scott Forrester who volleyed over the bar. Two minutes later the United defence fell asleep allowing Jon Holloway enough time and space to put the ball to Howell's left and into the net for the second Bath goal. Although Sutton fans were disappointed at the result  they were more upset at the referee's decision to sent Paul Harford off. It all started when Sutton won a free kick and as usual the players fought for a good position. Harford and Fraser pushed and pulled each other until Fraser went down seemingly untouched by Harford. The ref didn't see this incident and consulted the linesman on the near side who was closest to the incident and would have had a better view on what happened, after a brief talk the ref decided only to have a word with Harford and went to see if Fraser was okay, when the linesman on the far side, on the half way line, signalled to the ref. After a short talk to the linesman the referee reversed his decision and sent Paul Harford from the field. This angered United fans but Sutton weren't in a position to win the game so it wasn't going to harm any come back. With only two minutes left Maclean ran through the defence and took a good shot at goal but Howells was able to save well. Of course Bath weren't quite finished and had time to add a third before stoppage time was over.

Sutton will feel upset with the performance but Bath were the physically stronger team and deserved the win, which gave Sutton their worst result of the season so far.

 

 

Elation         Some good early play which unfortunately fell away.

 

Deflation      Poor second half-defending, not getting enough shots on goal to threaten Bath