Next Match – Dartford (H)
Bath City take on Dartford this Saturday at Twerton Park, looking to cement their place in the play-offs.
The Darts are now under the stewardship of interim manager Tony Burman, in charge for a fourth spell after permanent roles between 1993-1996 and 2005-2018 before a caretaker stint just over four years ago. With four promotions in three different decades, he’s a safe pair of hands before the Kent outfit look for a longer-term option.
The club announced on 11 January, in the wake of a 2-1 defeat at Maidstone United, that they were dispensing with the services of Alan Dowson with immediate effect. Dowson had taken up the Princes Park post in May 2022 and led the team to a second-place finish in the National League South last season. Promotion looked a real possibility, especially after Harvey Bradbury had given them the lead against St Albans in the play-off semi-final, but the Saints fought back to level the match and then won on penalties to book their place in the final against Oxford City at Dartford’s expense.
This season, Dartford’s performances have fallen below expectations. Going into today’s round of fixtures, they lie 19th in the NLS table. Burman has lost both league games since returning, home to Weymouth (0-1) and away to Farnborough (1-2) but have progressed in the Kent and London Senior Cups, overcoming Sevenoaks Town and QPR U21s. The latter was on Tuesday night where they prevailed on penalties. Burman’s first game back could have been at Twerton on 20 January, but a frozen pitch put pay to the fixture. The game has been rescheduled for this weekend as both were set to face sides still in the FA Trophy.
Successive 1-0 wins for City, the second combined with the 100th clean sheet under Jerry Gill, has seen the Romans move back into the play-offs following a spell of inactivity. The midweek results went their way too, and with games in hand of every other team in the top nine, things are looking positive ahead of this weekend’s clash.
Though the Darts are currently lower in the league table than the Romans, City have found wins against them hard to come by in National League South. The previous meeting was on the opening day, a 3-3 thriller at Bericote Princes Park where the Romans recovered from 2-0 down. City’s only win over Dartford in this division was in November 2019, thanks to Tom Smith and an Andy Watkins brace in a fine performance where all the damage was dealt in the first half. Elliott Romain ballooned a penalty over for the Darts after the break.
Tickets for the Dartford match will, as always, be available for purchase in advance via the website. You’ll save yourself £1 if you do buy ahead of the day.
Come along and see if City can make it three wins in a row!
Who – Bath City v Dartford
When – Saturday 10 February, 3pm
Where – Twerton Park
