Next Match – Larkhall Athletic (H)
Bath City will look to end their promising pre-season on a high as they face local rivals Larkhall Athletic at Twerton Park.
Unusually it’s the higher division side who are home this weekend. Larkhall’s Plain Ham stadium is undergoing a major revamp with a 3G pitch and new 250-seater stand being installed. The venue will host Step 4 football for an 11th successive season though they’ll be unable to play there until September at the earliest. The Larks’ first two home matches against Bashley and Tavistock have been reversed meaning the first game on the 3G could be 28 September against newly promoted Falmouth Town. This is their 10th friendly, six of the first seven were at Western League sides before reaching their summer conclusion with defeat at Chippenham Town and win at Dorchester Town.
Larkhall just missed out on the play-offs last year but it was their highest finish since their first in Step 4, back in 2015. Manager Ollie Price, who used to watch Bristol Rovers at Twerton Park, extended his contract in the summer.
He’s lost two key players from last term. Arthur Nasta’s performances in goal earned him Supporters’ Player of the Year and a dream move to Wolverhampton Wanderers where he’ll compete in their development squad. Golden Boot winner Archie Ferris has left for Taunton Town – he scored at Twerton on Wednesday in the Somerset Premier Cup Final for the Peacocks. Larkhall were supposed to play Town in the semi-finals but withdrew from the competition. Taunton beat Brislington to claim silverware.
That was 24 hours after Bath City picked up a fine 5-0 win at Frome Town, their biggest pre-season win in six years. This weekend is the final chance for Jerry Gill’s players to try and add a further selection headache ahead of the opening day at Boreham Wood. City have kept four successive clean sheets this pre-season, they last recorded five in a row in friendlies in 2002.
The clubs last met in pre-season in 2021. Goals from Cody Cooke, Alex Fletcher (3) and Jayden Nielsen helped recover from a goal down to win 5-1. The last competitive meeting won’t be forgotten in a hurry. In the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round last year, a record 1,000 crowd at Plain Ham saw a shock on the cards when Jack Camm and Matt Bowman scored inside 11 minutes to put the Southern League South side in dreamland. City eventually overpowered their Bath rivals with a dominating second half performance. Two Cody Cooke penalties and a wonderstrike from Jordan Thomas sealed a stunning comeback and earn the Romans a place in the next round.
Tickets are available for the latest contest here, come along and see if Bath City can start August as well as they’ve ended July!
