An all too early trip to probably the best located club in the Blue Square Bet South, Bath City. Fortunately for me the evening kick off was no problem and I was able to set off from Paddington just after lunch to give me plenty of time to wander round the tourist sites. Torrential rain forced me and my travel companion into the pub though and a more traditional pre match warm up of several pints of premium continental lager ensued.
Wandering out onto the magnificent covered terrace in the fading daylight I took in the familiar view of old school floodlights and Somerset countryside. Although I guess it must be expensive to maintain, Twerton Park is a real gem of a ground and hopefully will be around for a few years yet.
Ironically in terms of results at Twerton Park, Maidenhead had lost all four matches against Bath City but won all three against Team Bath. In short the team wearing black and white stripes won every time. Indeed Bath City are appropriately the only home team I have seen win at Twerton Park as back in 1989 I saw Reading firstly hold and then in a second replay beat tenants Bristol Rovers in an FA Cup tie.
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| Multiple Magpies and a pig |
Sadly the result went true to form last night with like Saturday at York Road, the home team deserving the win but being a little flattered by the final scoreline.
Maidenhead carried on where they left off on Saturday, with only Lee Barney missing through injury from the opening day starting line up. After a bright United start though it was Bath who took the lead with their first purposeful attack in the 7th minute when Aaron Brown flew down the left wing and delivered a cross for debutant Kurtis Guthrie to finish with a flying header. Bath manager Adie Britton had clearly captured the zeitgeist by electing to give the Fellaini haired Guthrie his first start but he was forced into his next two decisions as Bath lost two players through injury by the twenty minute mark. This enabled Maidenhead tp exert some pressure but there was no end product for the 20 Magpies strewn behind the goal to cheer, which must have kept the Bath mascot a pig, happy having decided to join us.
The arrival of the Logician midway through the first half signalled a period of Bath dominance which they capped with a second goal nine minutes ahead of the break. This was a replica of the first, Guthrie going one better than his Moroccan lookalike. This time it was Kerry Morgan's turn (on for the injured Brown) to deliver the cross from the left for Guthrie to head home.
As the first half drew to a close Maidenhead gave notice of a resurgence when a sharp shot from Paul Semakula drew a great save from Bath goalkeeper Glyn Garner. All in all a bit of a shock to the system after Saturday with Bath showing all the hallmarks of a team used to playing at a higher level.
With nothing to lose in the second half Maidenhead gave it a real good go keeping Bath pushed back in their own penalty area. Derek Duncan was first to threaten with a free kick after eight minutes which Garner tipped over the bar. As with Saturday the substitutions inspired a goal. This time it was Harry Pritchard who made the difference swinging in a corner from the right which was met at the far post by the head of Daniel Brown.
This had the unfortunate effect of rousing the ire of Guthrie again and within two minutes he had a shot well saved by the feet of Billy Lumley. Maidenhead continued to press for an equaliser and the match was decided by a sucker punch of a Bath counter attack. Inevitably the ball again came from the left this time from Morgan's substitute Noah Keats whose ball put Guthrie through on the keeper, the striker making no mistake with his finish to seal his hat trick.
Maidenhead continued to work hard for a way back into the game a close range effort from David Pratt drawing a fine reaction save from Garner and as we wandered off into the teeming rain to find our taxi we were left to reflect on an evening when the clinical finishing off a striker sure to make a name for himself this season ensured United's sorry run against Bath at Twerton Park continued.
Maidenhead carried on where they left off on Saturday, with only Lee Barney missing through injury from the opening day starting line up. After a bright United start though it was Bath who took the lead with their first purposeful attack in the 7th minute when Aaron Brown flew down the left wing and delivered a cross for debutant Kurtis Guthrie to finish with a flying header. Bath manager Adie Britton had clearly captured the zeitgeist by electing to give the Fellaini haired Guthrie his first start but he was forced into his next two decisions as Bath lost two players through injury by the twenty minute mark. This enabled Maidenhead tp exert some pressure but there was no end product for the 20 Magpies strewn behind the goal to cheer, which must have kept the Bath mascot a pig, happy having decided to join us.
As the first half drew to a close Maidenhead gave notice of a resurgence when a sharp shot from Paul Semakula drew a great save from Bath goalkeeper Glyn Garner. All in all a bit of a shock to the system after Saturday with Bath showing all the hallmarks of a team used to playing at a higher level.
With nothing to lose in the second half Maidenhead gave it a real good go keeping Bath pushed back in their own penalty area. Derek Duncan was first to threaten with a free kick after eight minutes which Garner tipped over the bar. As with Saturday the substitutions inspired a goal. This time it was Harry Pritchard who made the difference swinging in a corner from the right which was met at the far post by the head of Daniel Brown.
This had the unfortunate effect of rousing the ire of Guthrie again and within two minutes he had a shot well saved by the feet of Billy Lumley. Maidenhead continued to press for an equaliser and the match was decided by a sucker punch of a Bath counter attack. Inevitably the ball again came from the left this time from Morgan's substitute Noah Keats whose ball put Guthrie through on the keeper, the striker making no mistake with his finish to seal his hat trick.
Maidenhead continued to work hard for a way back into the game a close range effort from David Pratt drawing a fine reaction save from Garner and as we wandered off into the teeming rain to find our taxi we were left to reflect on an evening when the clinical finishing off a striker sure to make a name for himself this season ensured United's sorry run against Bath at Twerton Park continued.
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