Tuesday 11 October 2005 - Twerton Park - kick off 7.45pm

Southern League Premier Division
half-time: 2-0 result: W3-0 attendance: 417
team: Evans, S Jones (Clarke 86), Power, Coupe, G Jones, Harris, Bird, Holloway (c) (Duggan 87), Walsh (Shackle 90), Partridge, Sandell. subs not used: Holland, Bryant.
man of the match: Phil Walsh
scorers: Holloway (35), Partridge (38,85)
bookings: Holloway (70)
officials: P Brown (Swindon), N Hickton (Market Lavington), P Humphrey (Swindon)
league position: 6th form: WLWWLW next match: Dunstable (A)
Report taken from by Richard Gadsby

Bath City's promotion push is firmly back on track following an emphatic 3-0 thrashing of Cirencester Town in the Southern Premier Division. Striker Scott Partridge, who had failed to score in seven previous outings, was only denied a hat-trick by the width of the post as rampant City laid a three-game league losing streak at Twerton Park to rest.

The few fans who braved the miserable weather were treated to City's most commanding performance of the season. Andy Sandell hinted at what was to come after ten minutes when he beat three players on a surging run into the box only to see his low drive to the right of the keeper tipped away for a corner. Striker Phil Walsh, appearing for the first time since August following suspension, showed a lack of sharpness, if not pace and energy, when he missed two golden opportunities with just the keeper to beat moments later. On 32 minutes Paul Evans palmed away Cirencester's best effort of the half when Gareth Hopkins tried to curl home from the edge of the box. Jon Holloway opened the scoring on 35 minutes with a stooping header on the edge of the six-yard box from a Sandell corner. And three minutes later it was 2-0 when an excellent cross-field ball over the Cirencester defence from Sandell found Walsh on the right wing. The tall striker whipped a dangerous cross into the box and, with the defence still tracking back, Partridge headed home at the back post.

Cirencester came out for the second half slightly sharper but were soon subdued by some slick City passing. Just six minutes in, Greame Power found Tony Bird in space on the right. Bird beat his marker and swung the ball into the box for Walsh who fired wide with a stretching header. City looked composed on the ball with Sandell and Bird on the flanks causing Cirencester serious problems. Partridge was left with just the keeper to beat following a pinpoint pass from Adie Harris on 71 minutes. The striker delayed his shot until the keeper went to ground but could only watch as his chipped effort bounced back off the post and was eventually cleared. With quarter of an hour to go, Cirencester's frustration finally boiled over when Darren Robison was shown two yellow cards inside a minute for arguing with referee Paul Brown. City were cruising by that stage anyway and Partridge added an inevitable third with four minutes left. The striker hit a low drive past the keeper into the bottom right hand corner from just inside the box after being played in by Greame Power.