By Harry Mottram: Clearly pressure is mounting on Bath City FC as another defeat – this time it was in the Isuzu FA Trophy against Chertsey, despite leading 2-1 at home at Twerton Park on Saturday. They have not won a game since October 5th when they beat Chesham in the league. With a string of nine games without a win and five defeats in a row the mutterings amongst some supporters have begun. City have been in this situation before and usually bounce back but with the Christmas fixture list fast approaching the pressure is on to find some form.
The manager is clearly concerned as he made this statement after the game on Saturday: “We know and totally understand there is a lot of disappointment with today’s result all round. It was a game, once again, where we pressed the self-destruct button. Having taken a deserved 2-1 defeat lead, we never managed the final stages of the game well at all.
“Myself and the management team will take full responsibility and protect the players in this difficult period. They will need support and guidance to get us through this in the only way we know: by rolling up our sleeves and working hard to prepare them for Tuesday night.”
On Tuesday they face Maidstone United under the lights at Twerton Park in what is becoming a critical encounter as City are just one place above the drop zone on 15 points. They do have a three point advantage over St Albans who have 12 points and a game in hand over Welling United who are above them on 16 points – and so three points could see them move up a couple of places and safety depending on how other results go.
On Saturday City showed so much promise with Jack Batten scoring twice to put the Romans ahead but a late come back by Chertsey saw heart break at the park. It ended Bath City 2 Chertsey Town 3.
All teams go through difficult times and when that happens the negative comments grow with some calling for Jerry Gill to go. How representative those voices are is hard to tell but football is a results business so it is hard to ignore the facts. There are also many who have come to the manager’s defence citing his limited budget and his bringing on of some talented young players – plus City have a strong and loyal fan base. Jerry Gill and his team are highly experienced and have the know how to put together some results. And it must be said there’s still plenty of time to turn things around – or as one fan said: “In Gill we trust.”
Bath Voice Monthly Newspaper is distributed free to thousands of homes and some supermarkets – distributed from the first of the month. Harry Mottram is the News Editor
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Harry Mottram is a freelance journalist. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Telegram, TikTok and Email:harryfmottram@gmail.com
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