Saturday 22 October 2005 - Twerton Park - kick off 3.00pm Southern League Premier Division

Report taken from by Richard Gadsby

A frenetic start saw both teams come close early on and Paul Evans had to be sharp to claw out a powerful Jon Harkness free-kick from the top right-hand corner after just three minutes. Bath hit back with some wonderfully worked football and three minutes later Phillip Walsh almost opened the scoring when he glanced a header just wide of the near post from six yards. It was end to end stuff, and the Twerton Park faithful looked like they were in for an action-packed game, but Halesowen put an end to the fun by piling men behind the ball just as City's slick passing threatened to overwhelm them. Faced with the footballing equivalent of a brick wall, City's flowing football was made redundant and there were no clear chances for the rest of the half as the home side struggled to get to grips with their opponent's new approach.

After the break it was pretty much all Bath with Halesowen reluctant to move players out of their own half. Andy Sandell was City's most dangerous player with frequent surging runs down the left but, to their credit, Halesowen restricted the home side to very few chances. City, who are starting to show signs of their early season form, upped the tempo and thought they had taken the lead when Dean Coleman delayed a clearance and was charged down by Adie Harris. The ball struck Harris in the face and the midfielder slotted into an empty net only for referee Chris Banks to blow for handball. A minute later Nathan Lamey headed just wide from a Nick Smith cross on a rare Halesowen attack but Bath responded with some strong chances of their own. Scott Partridge hit the post after latching on to a saved Walsh shot with an hour gone and on 75 minutes the keeper was forced into an excellent diving save when Partridge headed a poor Sandell shot goalwards. Halesowen tried every trick in the book to try and slow the game down as players rolled around on the floor with apparent head injuries and set-pieces took for ever to place. They even started to kick the ball away but were allowed to get away with it by a lenient Chris Banks. Still City pressed and Jon Holloway almost stole the points at the death when he headed just wide from eight yards following a Walsh cross. It was a frustrating finish to the afternoon, after what had been a promising start, and referee Banks trotted off the pitch to a chorus of boos, and some colourful language, as the City fans made it clear who they felt was to blame.