Saturday 8 October 2005 - Wessex Stadium - kick off 2.00pm FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round

Report taken from by Richard Gadsby

City could have been a goal up after six minutes when Gethin Jones broke from defence and laid off to Scott Partridge on the left. The former Terras striker went wide of his marker and swung an excellent ball back into the area for Jones, who scuffed his shot wide from eight yards. It proved to be the best chance of the half as both sides battled for control in midfield. Weymouth dominated possession but rarely threatened the Bath backline and only a weak Bound header from a deep Shaun Wilkinson free-kick forced Paul Evans into a save in the first half. As the break approached, Weymouth's frustration grew, and some tough tackles from both sides brought a series of yellow cards from the referee. Graeme Power was the first to be cautioned after a cynical hack on Steve Clark. Five minutes later, he was joined in the book by Evans and Chukki Eribenne after a tussle as the keeper tried to shepherd the ball out for a goal-kick. And with six minutes of the half left the game threatened to erupt when Wilkinson made a late lunge on Tony Bird. The City striker appeared to swing his arm out in retaliation and both players were booked. Andrew Harris was shown yellow for an innocuous foul at the stroke of half-time to make it six bookings in 20 minutes.

The two sides had clearly cooled after the break and City enjoyed their best spell of the game from the restart although, like Weymouth, failed to turn possession into chances. Inevitably, as the half wore on, City began to defend deeper but the expected surge of late pressure from the full-timers never materialised. Their only true chance came on 59 minutes when a free-kick on the left forced City's Steve Jones into a diving headed clearance which was directed straight at his own net. Evans made an excellent reflex save to his right but, after that, was only called into action from crosses. But just as the match went into injury-time, Weymouth were awarded a dubious handball verdict 20 yards from goal. Andrew Harris poked the ball left for Bound and the Weymouth skipper crashed a low drive past a crowd of players into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Bath City boss John Relish had nothing but praise for his side after their FA Cup exit at the Wessex Stadium. City more than matched full-timers Weymouth for 90 minutes of their third qualifying round clash but were denied a profitable replay by an injury-time winner. Despite the result, Relish said his side had been 'outstanding'. "I felt very sorry for the lads and all I could do was congratulate them as they came off," he said. "We set our stall out, anticipated their strengths and everything was going well. Our defending was excellent all game. They were reduced to long-range efforts and I don't remember them creating a single clear-cut chance. In fact, the best chance of the game was when Gethin Jones made a great run into the box and pulled his shot wide. To do that against a full-time team that's a league above you is fantastic and I don't think the lads got what they deserved. Their manager said the same at the end of the game. We never looked overrun or overwhelmed and it's taken a dubious, controversial free-kick to get past us."