Truro City (1) 1 Bath City (0) 1 – Vanarama National League South – Tuesday 30 October 2018 – Plainmoor
Bath City picked up their first draw of the season on a bizarre night at Plainmoor against Truro City. With the hosts playing matches some 87 miles from their Cornwall base, a predictably sparse crowd would have been able to swing a few cats at Torquay’s near empty stadium. Flying felines would have almost fitted in with the unusual goings on on the pitch, in a scrappy match littered with stoppages, largely in the first half to constantly replace under-inflated footballs. This was after Truro got off to a dream start. Former Roman Tyler Harvey benefited as City failed to clear, and coolly side-footed his fifth goal of the season away past a helpless Ryan Clarke. Harvey was booked on the 18-minute mark, which proved costly later on. With the constant breaks, City struggled to find momentum. Ross Stearn’s free-kick sailed over, while at the other end, Clarke did just enough to parry Connor Riley-Lowe’s drive behind for a corner.
Whatever Jerry Gill said to his players at the break had the desired effect, as his side came out with more purpose in the second half, none more than Michee Efete. The Maidstone loanee’s enterprising run into the box was ended by Jamie Richards’ untidy challenge, gifting Anthony Straker a second penalty in as many games. He didn’t disappoint, rifling past Cory Harvey into the corner to get City back on level terms. Harvey, younger brother of Tyler, did well to finger-tip Joe Raynes’ effort over as the Romans threatened on the counter. Tempers flared on the hour as James Morton and River Allen careered into one another on halfway, with players from each side having their say. The decision went in Bath’s favour but, bizarrely, both men were booked. The Romans were then indebted to a fine save from Clarke, throwing himself to his right to keep out Niall Thompson’s stinging drive and keep the scores level. Cory Harvey had a moment to forget in the closing stages, inexplicably picking up Riley-Lowe’s deliberate backpass. From the resulting indirect free-kick, substitute Ryan Brunt was thwarted by a predictably packed wall. Another Harvey also saw his night end sourly, Tyler receiving a second yellow in stoppage time for fouling Frankie Artus and, after a lengthy protestation, finally exited. Truro determinedly saw out the remaining few minutes to snare a point in their battle at the wrong end of National League South. Although City would have hoped to build on Saturday’s fine display at Woking , ten points from 12 on the road is an impressive return, with Gill’s men keeping hot on the heels of the leaders.
Att: 140
City’s Line-Up: Clarke, Efete, Straker (c), Cundy, Batten (Amankwaah 32), Artus, Morton, Raynes, Smith, Mann, Stearn (Brunt 75). Subs not used: Rees, Ball, Hodges.
Scorers: City – Straker (pen 48); Truro – Harvey (4)
City Bookings: Morton (65)
Officials: D Lamport, A James, M Eva