Usual shower at Bath

Bath City away has become an unmissable date in the Maidenhead United fixture list despite the evidence of every trip suggesting it shouldn't be. Yesterday was no exception as Maidenhead United slumped to maintain their 100% record against Bath City at Twerton Park with a sixth consecutive defeat. This wasn't to be the only constant on a day which very much felt like a repeat in the life of the Magpies.

What could be a leisurely cruise by train down to Bath from Paddington was as usual interrupted by First Great Western incompetence, although at least Reg tried to make me feel better about having to shell out for a taxi to the ground after missing my connection to Oldfield Park.

The journey also brought worrying news of a Magpie defensive crisis which on arrival at the ground didn't get any better as it was revealed that in addition to Curtis Ujah failing to recover from his knee damaged at Eastbourne, Matt Ruby had woken up with an abcess, and Mark Nisbet had injured himself in training. At least the club captain was able to go to Slough to watch Trophy opponents Daventry, although of course he will miss next week's tie through suspension.

So it came to pass that Jacob Erskine found himself lining up as a makeshift centre back. The much travelled striker made a good fist of his new role as Maidenhead gamely hung on to ultimately forlorn hopes of a point against a Bath team which failed to build on an early lead.

Lining up in an abomination of the classic black and white stripes, which should have led to the home team being forced to wear their away kit so the Magpies could show everyone what a proper black and white kit should look like, Bath were on top from the word go. In the first twenty minutes both Alfie Mawson and Leon Solomon had to take last ditch action to clear the ball off the line after Elvijs Putnins was beaten, before inevitably David Pratt scored the only goal of the game with a header which went in off the post midway through the first half.
After the goal, Bath sat back but despite enjoying more possession Maidenhead were unable to fashion a goal scoring opportunity to test City keeper Jason Mellor. Meanwhile off the pitch any tedium was broken by an attempt to celebrate the news of the Monty Python reunion with the reenactment of a sketch from the Life of Brian.

The second half began with Bath again pushing hard for a goal to consolidate their lead, with again Solomon keeping the deficit to one with a goal line clearance. The game continued in fairly even fashion with the key moment in terms of the result coming with twenty one minutes remaining when Daniel Brown rose to meet a corner at the near post with a firm header. The ball was goalbound only to be blocked on the line by a somewhat unwitting Mellor.

This proved to be the only chance for an equaliser but with Bath failing to score on their repeated counter attacks, hopes remained until the final whistle which eventually confirmed the inevitable defeat allowing an excellent Maidenhead support to troop off to the bar and continue to sample the fine ales on offer across the city.

For me that meant the Old Castle Inn next to the ground where the locals hospitality was reflected by the orderly queuing system in place. A couple more in the hotel opposite the station offered the opportunity for reflection to ensure all the boxes of a day trip to Bath were ticked, I even managed the spotters badge of seeing Ken Loach on the Twerton terraces.

All in all a day which confirmed that this season will be a long slog to the finish and therefore opportunities that a trip to a place like Bath offer need to be taken to the full.At least the news about the new stand to be revealed at Friday' s Supporters Association meeting will give everyone something to hang onto through the dark winter months.

Usual March malaise sets up annual April relegation pantomine

Whereas Julius Caesar only had to worry about the Ides of March, Maidenhead fans have had to suffer for the entire month in recent seasons as a regular Spring time Conference South collapse under Drax leads to a nervy end to the season of varying proportions.

Looking at the evidence of the Magpies' league record in March, yesterday's defeat means 2013 has topped the lot with at least 2008 having a draw (albeit abandoned after 87 minutes, with the replayed game in April lost).

2008 P5 L4 A1

2009 P7 W2 D2 L3

2010 P7 W2 D3 L2

2011 P7 D1 L6

2012 P7 W1 D2 L4

2013 P6 L6

There is no rhyme or reason for this and at least this season's plight does not seem as dire yet as the previous two with this term's relegation battle being a seven way fight for the two spots to join doomed Truro City. Maidenhead also still have the consolation of a positive goal difference which remains for the time being ten goals better than any of their relegation rivals. This is of course thanks to the Magpies putting nine goals past Truro without reply whose continued existence until May everyone at York Road will be very grateful for.

Any chance that the inevitable end to March was to be avoided was jeopardised by the  visit of Bath, a club which have never lost a league match to Maidenhead. Add a Magpie defence of which 75% had two United appearances between them and I had little confidence of the form table being upset.

Bath themselves are not having the best of seasons on and off the pitch, suffering the usual Conference relegation hangover. Although their financial worries seem grave, for the moment they look set to avoid the fate of Lewes, Weymouth and St. Albans by dropping down again, keeping their heads just above the relegation dogfight. 

City just about earned their win by virtue of dispatching one of the chances that came their way and working hard to deny Maidenhead any joy at the other end. On a surface which showed the effects of frost following flood, caution on the ball was the watchword but the game was open enough to enjoy, at least until it became clear Maidenhead were again going to end up rivalling Alexander Armstrong for Pointless appearances in March.

The first half set the pattern for the game with both teams enjoying spells of pressure but Bath being just a little more potent in front of goal. This was typified midway through the first half when an Adam Connolly shot from outside the penalty area was expertly pushed around the post by Billy Lumley at full stretch. Maidenhead responded with some good build up play but could only trouble the Maidenhead Advertiser sign with the end product. Lumley was then beaten by an Elliott Chamberlain effort only for the ball to rebound to safety off the inside of the post.

Half time saw Bath fans reposition their fine flag tifo behind the Maidenhead goal, (not only black & white but also one sporting the legend "terraces not armchairs"), and it was to good hear that in this season of adversity they have found a collective voice loud enough to back their team. The Bell Street End then looked on as the match was effectively decided within ten minutes of the restart. First Richard Pacquette came closest to scoring for United only to be denied by the feet of Jason "chocolate orange shorts" Mellor, then Chamberlain broke the deadlock by being first to the ball when Lumley could only parry a Josh Low shot.

As always Maidenhead could not be faulted for effort but the result seemed inevitable when with seventeen minutes remaining three Magpies queued up ahead of the Bath backline to head home a free kick only for the ball to be nodded wide.Similarly with nine minutes left following a Michael Pook corner which Mellor tipped over the bar take two saw the otherwise impressive debutant Curtis Ujah head narrowly wide.

It was clear that a moment of quality was required and this was provided by the eternally Stakhanovite David  Pratt with a turn and shot which deserved a goal only for Mellor's super tight shorts to again direct his legs to divert the ball to safety.

The final whistle soon at last brought relief that the next match would be played 48 hours later in April which hopefully will provide some sort of respite as I don't want any more last day dramas particularly against this season's meta Stoke experiment at Billericay.