Skipper Kieran Parselle was sent off as Bath City crashed to defeat when they hosted Horsham on Saturday 1st November.
Bath City’s Jordan Alves escapes the clutches of Horsham’s Harvey Sparks at the Cannon Clarke Stadium @ Twerton Park | Photo © Simon Howe
The Romans went down 2-0 at the Cannon Clarke Stadium @ Twerton Park to leave them in 19th place in Enterprise National League South ahead of a crucial match at fellow relegation battlers Slough Town on Tuesday 3rd November.
Parselle got his marching orders in first-half injury-time. Horsham captain Jack Brivio saw Greg Luer in space and sent the ball forward, only for Parselle to handle deliberately just outside the box. The referee deemed the ex-Chippenham Town man had stopped a clear scoring opportunity and dismissed him.
The resulting free-kick was curled into City’s net by James Hammond, although home gloveman Harvey Wiles-Richards got a hand to the ball.
The Romans’ Will Jenkins Davies is challenged during the home loss to Horsham in Enterprise National League South | Photo © Simon Howe
Bath had started well, Jordan Tillson shooting just over the bar early on and Jake Tabor being thwarted by a block from Leone Gravata.
Jordan Alves was denied by Hornets’ keeper Lewis Carey and then lashed narrowly wide.
It seemed a City goal had to come. But Horsham battled back and almost went ahead in the 26th minute. Charlie Hester-Cook shot, Wiles-Richards parried superbly and Reece Myles-Meekums’ attempt to bury the loose ball was blocked by Joe Raynes.
Will Jenkins Davies drove just wide in the 35th minute but Parselle’s exit and the resulting opening goal gave the Romans a mountain to climb.
And the visitors from West Sussex built on their lead eight minutes into the second half, Shamir Fenelon tapping past Wiles-Richards from six yards for a goal on his 200th appearance for the club.
Bath City, black and white, on the way to a 2-0 home defeat against Horsham on Saturday 1st November | Photo © Simon Howe
Romans’ boss Darren Way brought on new signings Matt Bowman, formerly with Larkhall Athletic, and Owen Windsor – who has played in the Football League for Grimsby Town, Newport County and Carlisle United – in an attempt to secure something from the match.
And, in front of a crowd of 1,180, the duo’s presence certainly gave the hosts more attacking threat against a Hornets team who have now won four successive league games.
But the closest Bath came to reducing the arrears came when a corner was cleared off the line by Brivio in the 75th minute and a Windsor effort was stopped by Carey two minutes later.
Way said: “For 43 minutes it was a real good competitive half of football.
“We had passages of play where the combination, the front two, the wide players…. it was a real positive 43 minutes.
“Then you had the critical incident and the sending-off and obviously that changes the dynamics of the game.
“Our game plan was going really well, we forced them into a lot of mistakes.
“They’ve got some good players, they were quite good on the counter attack, but we limited them with very few chances in the first half.”
Of the handball that led to Parselle’s red card, Way said: “It was just a mistake, a poor mistake.”
Bath: Harvey Wiles-Richards, Joe Raynes, Ollie Tomlinson, Jack Batten, Kieran Parselle, Jordan Alves (Mitch Beardmore, 59), Will Jenkins Davies, Jake Tabor (Manny Yeboah, 73), Brad Ash (Owen Windsor, 59), Jordan Tillson (Matt Bowman, 73), Luke Russe (Louis Sweeten, 82). Unused subs: Charlie Binns, Tresor Mabika.
Tickets for Bath’s match at Slough are available here.
Kick-off at Arbour Park will be at 7.45pm.
