Next Match – Truro City (H)

We are back under the lights next Tuesday when third-placed Truro City are the visitors to Twerton Park.

Having comfortably avoided the drop last season, despite having to play 10 games in 20 days in April, there’s a new optimism at Truro, both on and off the pitch. After nearly four years in exile since leaving Treyew Road, they are now playing their home games at the new 3,000-seater Truro City Stadium in Langarth. There has been a change in the dugout too. After five years in charge, manager Paul Wotton left for Torquay United over the summer. John Askey has come in to replace him.

Their opening game at the new ground was watched by 2,676 supporters, an incomparable improvement on last season, when they were playing in front of as few as 70 people at Gloucester. That match ended in a 2-1 defeat by Dorking, but since then Truro have been unbeaten. And their three home games, which have all been won, have been watched by crowds averaging over 1,500.

Away from home, they have beaten Maidstone 2-1 and have drawn 1-1 at Salisbury. In the six games they have played in total, they have scored 14 goals. Only early League leaders Slough have managed as many.

Five of those goals have been scored by ex-Roman Tyler Harvey, who has recently signed a long-term contract. He is the man to watch. As well as scoring both goals in the come-from-behind late win against Chelmsford on Saturday, Harvey has scored three of Truro’s last four goals against Bath City.

The other was scored last February by Connor Riley-Lowe, another ex-Roman. Bath City won that last meeting at Twerton Park 2-1, despite Riley-Lowe’s late goal. But this Tuesday night will be a big test for a Romans squad ravaged by injury and reeling from the bizarre defeat at Hemel Hempstead on Saturday. 

Tuesday is the 14^th meeting between Bath City and Truro City, all bar the first have been played in Conference/National League South. 

Overall record v Truro City: Pld 13 W5 D5 L3 F18 A15. 

Bath City’s record v Truro City in Conference/National League South at Twerton Park:

Quirks:

· Andy Watkins and Cody Cooke have scored for both clubs in this fixture – Watkins netted moments before Josh Low’s leveller in February 2013.

· While City have converted all three penalties v Truro at Twerton, the Tinners have missed both theirs – Shane White skied over in 2015 and Niall Thompson’s effort was saved by Max O’Leary 14 months later. 

Last meeting:

20 February 2024 – National League South
Bath City 2 (Cooke 28 (pen); Smith 61) Truro City 1 (Riley-Lowe 90+1) 

Line-ups:
Bath City: Casa-Grande; Raynes, Dyer, Parselle, Greenslade; Hayfield, Smith (Wilson 76), Russe; Chin (Frear 17), Cooke, Clark (Alabi 81). Sub not used: Batten, Lines.
Truro City: Hamon; Palmer, Adelsbury (Sullivan 67), Harrison; Riley-Lowe, Dean, Brett (Bray 59), Porter (Rooney 67), Law; Harvey, Neal. Subs not used: Kavanagh, Sanders. 

Referee: Morgan Conn
Star man: Ewan Clark
Attendance: 1,051 

Tom Smith notched his 50^th goal for Bath City to seal victory in Jerry Gill’s 300^th match in charge. The midfielder’s second in two games wrapped up a fifth successive win for the Romans in the league for the first time since August 2015. They were made to sweat in the final stages as Connor Riley-Lowe netted in added time. But having survived a late rally, City claimed a deserved success to continue their fine run. 

Tickets available here. * Save up to £2 on online advance ticket sales up to 23.45 on Monday 2 September 2024 * 

If you’re unable to attend, you can obtain updates via:

X – @BathCity_FC

Bath City Radio – Bath City Radio or bathcityradio.mixlr.com. Also on the Mixlr app, search for Bath City Radio.