Southampton A v Bath 2’s

31 October 2015

South West Minor Plate Round 1 Leg 1

Final Score Southampton A 3:3 Bath2’s

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What a difference a week makes, after Bath 2’s game against Exeter where the team was dominated by a competent Exeter university side, one would be forgiven in thinking there would be a repeat performance against Southampton A, a team that, on paper looked stronger than Exeter.

For Bath, Ed Ward returned from injury, and the new players had learnt a lot from the game and had worked hard on the training ground during the week.

Southampton began the game with intent, shutting out the Bath midfield and capitalising on any mistakes.  Despite great saves from Ben Hopkins in the Bath goal the home team managed to score in each quarter and Bath, despite having a lot of possession could not get the break through. The feeling at the three quarter break was that Bath were unlucky to be 3:0 down, dropped chances or saved shots that just would not go the visitor’s way. At one stage both Andrew Hine and Alex Foster-Powell took each other out in their eagerness to get to the ball.

Captain Nik Roberts called for calm, and in the 4^th quarter Bath put some structure into the attack, simple communication, pressure on the ground ball and early passes was all that was required.

When the breakthrough came through a quick stick goal by Roberts on the crease one could sense the Southampton team start to tense up, a second from a reverse feed to Roberts, again on the crease put real pressure on the home side, and the confidence of Bath’s younger players started to show. 15 Yr. old Luke Reddington, was unlucky with a good dodge and shot from the front, in the first half of the game the ball would have gone to a Southampton player, but Bath reacted the quickest, the resulting possession from behind the goal allowed Ed Ward to feed Roberts from behind onto the crease again for a well-deserved equaliser.

The last couple of minutes were frenetic to say the least, both teams now trying to steal a win, both goal keepers being tested.

In the end a 3:3 draw was a fair result, Bath will feel they have an advantage, having come from behind and making the home leg all even in a fortnight.

Quarter Scores

1^st quarter Southampton 1:0 Bath

2^nd quarter Southampton 1:0 Bath

3^rd quarter Southampton 1:0 Bath

4^th quarter Southampton 0:3 Bath

Final Score Southampton 3:3 Bath

Scorers

Nik Roberts 3

Referee

James Kellam (Panel)