Southern League Premier Division
Tuesday 7 March 2006 - Twerton Park - kick off 7.45pm
half-time: 2-0 result: W3-1 attendance: 579
team: Evans, Rollo (c), Power, Coupe, G Jones, S Jones, Bird (Davidge 76), Holloway, Walsh, Partridge, Sandell (Dorrian 90). subs not used: Hulbert, Shackell.
man of the match: Andy Sandell
scorers: Partridge (24), S Jones (28), Holloway (89 pen)
bookings: Holloway (64)
officials: J Parkinson (Cheltenham), A Shilston (Lydney), A Matthew (Kings Stanley)
league position: 1st form: WWWLWW next match: Banbury (A)
Report taken from by Richard Gadsby

Bath City breezed past their Twerton Park tenants Team Bath to stretch their unbeaten league run to 13 games and claim top spot in the Southern Premier Division. It is hard to believe that only two points separated City from their student neighbours in the league at the start of 2006, but the two Bath sides have had something of a contrast in fortunes since then. The gap now stands at 23 points after City's crushing victory last night, with John Relish's side sitting pretty at the top of the table, while Ged Roddy's TeamBath slip closer to the relegation dogfight. City simply took TeamBath apart and fully deserved to leapfrog King's Lynn and local rivals Chippenham Town to go top, for however long it lasts. It wasn't a particularly poor performance from Roddy's side, just that City clearly had their eyes on the prize with several players shrugging off injury to take to the field. Jon Holloway in particular showed his dedication to the cause and put in a great performance despite nursing a groin injury.

After an initial 20-minute spell of scrappy play, which TeamBath shaded, City took a firm grip on the game and refused to let go. Scott Partridge's opening goal after 24 minutes proved the impetus. A good through ball from Steve Jones wrong-footed the defence and Partridge took one touch before drilling the ball low at Darren Chitty. The TeamBath shot-stopper, who was in fine form all night, managed to get a hand to it, but the ball rolled kindly for Partridge, who tucked it home at the second attempt. City doubled their lead four minutes later when Jones, with his back to goal, turned and cracked a brilliant effort straight into the top corner from just outside the box. Phillip Walsh should have made it 3-0 moments later but his two close-range strikes, were blocked by Kes Metitiri and Chitty during a goalmouth scramble.

More City pressure followed after the break. Paul Tisdale and Alex Frost had to work exceptionally hard to keep City out and Andy Sandell, showing no after-effects of the injury that sidelined him for Saturday's game at Tiverton, was only denied by a late block from Frost after a powerful run took him past two TeamBath players. Jon Holloway could only turn a low free-kick from Tony Bird over the bar as City looked for a third goal and TeamBath responded with their best football of the night. A long free-kick from Marc Canham caught the City defence napping and only a poor first touch kept namesake Sean Canham from running clean through on goal. It should have served as a wake-up call for City, but they opted to sit back and Roddy's side enjoyed more possession than they had all night. The students made the most of it and their perseverance was rewarded when a string of around 20 passes eventually found Marc Canham on the right. The TeamBath captain's deep cross again managed to find leading scorer Sean Canham, who powered home from eight yards out from what looked like an offside position. It may have been TeamBath's only notable effort of the night, but it was a move worthy of a goal and gave the students genuine hope of snatching a point. They failed to create any more good openings though and, as City closed out the match, Walsh was brought down in the box for a penalty. Holloway wrestled the ball off Partridge for the chance to take it and blasted an unstoppable spot-kick into the roof of the net to make the game safe.