Tuesday 18 October 2005 - Twerton Park - kick off 8.15pm

FA Trophy 1st Qualifying Round Replay
half-time: 5-0 result: W5-0 attendance: 241
team: Evans, S Jones, Power (Clarke 45), Coupe, G Jones, Harris (Ford 45), Bird, Holloway (c) (Shackle 67), Walsh, Partridge, Sandell. subs not used: Holland, Bryant.
man of the match: Jon Holloway
scorers: Walsh (11), Bird (29,36), Holloway (40,44)
bookings: none
officials: C Williams, W Mortimer, R Watkins
league position: n/a form: WWLWDW next match: Halesowen (H)
Report taken from by Richard Gadsby

They had to wait an extra half-an-hour but it took Bath City just 45 minutes to destroy Dunstable when the Bedfordshire side finally arrived for their FA Trophy replay at Twerton Park. The visitors showed up 30 minutes late after getting caught in traffic on the trip to Twerton but, in footballing terms, they never really turned up as a rampant City took an unassailable 5-0 lead by the break.

City carved the shambolic Dunstable defence in two time and time again and made the most of the chances they created. As soon as Phil Walsh headed home a Steve Jones free-kick with just 11 minutes on the clock the result was never in doubt as Dunstable heads dropped and City finally made sure of the job they should have completed on Saturday. Tony Bird made it 2-0 after lashing home a deflected Scott Partridge with 27 minutes gone and it was 3-0 soon after when Partridge flicked onto the back post for Bird to slide in and score. Ben L’Honore stung the hands of Paul Evans with a ferocious free-kick for Dunstable’s best chance but, for the rest of the half, the visitors were a shadow of the side that came so close to dumping City out of the competition just three days earlier. City were cruising now and, despite the torrential downpour which lasted all game, showed glimpses of the excellent football they have produced in patches so far this season. And Sandell and Walsh pulled the visitors all over the park with some excellent running and movement but it was Jon Holloway who stole the show with a brace of headers that took the tie beyond the visitors. With five minutes of the half left, the midfield enforcer executed a text book header from a Sandell corner to make it 4-0 and with the last touch of the half he directed a deep Steve Jones cross into the net at the back post to make the game safe.

It was no more than Bath deserved and sorry Dunstable’s only consolation as they trudged off for the break was that the game would not go to penalties for an 11pm finish. The visitors did improve in the second half but by then the game was already over and City were clearly more concerned with keeping a clean sheet. The home side still looked the more likely to score though with Dunstable restricted to a succession of long range drives. Partridge was again guilty of missing some good opportunities and looked like a striker lacking confidence as he tried to take an extra touch with every chance that fell to him. The Twerton Park faithful were willing the City striker to score but, apart from hitting the sidenetting a couple of times, he never really looked likely to extend the lead and the game ended in an easy victory.