Bath City Women 1st (1) 1 Royal Wootton Bassett Town Ladies (1) 2 – Sunday 27 October 2024 – Regen Arable South West Regional WFL Division 1 North – Twerton Park
Match Report by Mark Stillman.
Bath City Women’s four game unbeaten run came to an end at home to Royal Wootton Bassett Town.
Tara Taylor’s fourth goal of the season wasn’t enough for the Romans as strikes from Jasmine Kennedy and Laura Jefferies earned last year’s runners-up the points.
Jasmin Harris made her debut for Matt Abreu’s side as a substitute in their first outing for three weeks.
The defeat leaves City in sixth with nearly a quarter of the season played.
Town got off to a dream start when Sadie Farley hesitated off her line, allowing Caitlin Brooks time to shoot.
City’s number one repelled her effort but the ball fell kindly to Kennedy, who smartly lofted over the stranded keeper from outside the box.
Kelly Nightingale nearly put Adella Clarke’s ball into her own net and Taylor lashed over when a visiting goal kick went awry, but she made no mistake on the cusp of half-time.
Erin Duffy’s ball from the left was poorly dealt with, allowing Taylor to take a touch inside and stab past goalkeeper Millie Powell from six yards.
Maddy Brown nearly caught Powell out with a cross shot just after the break, but the keeper expertly tipped over.
With the contest descending into a scrappy encounter with little quality, a rare opening saw Bassett nab a second.
Jefferies shrugged off Eve Trivett on the counter and hooked the ball over Farley, who could only glove it in.
Maddy Elliott’s low shot from distance crept wide for the away side and Poppy Spratt’s effort whistled wide in the closest City came to an equaliser.
Abreu’s team will be looking to bounce back at Purton next week.
City’s Line-Up: Farley; Trivett, Fry, Gray, Duffy; A Harris, Spratt; Taylor, Goater, Key; Clarke. Subs used: Brown, J Harris, Cutler, Thorner-Atkinson, Pearce.
Scorers: City – Taylor (44); Wotton Bassett – Kennedy (6), Jefferies (74)
Referee: Justin Cox