Bath Sporting Round-Up

Make sure to catch up on all the weekends sporting action from across Bath.

Bath City faced Beaconsfield hoping to make it into the next round of the FA Trophy and keep their streak of wins rolling. Bath Rugby took on the Bristol Bears in the Gallagher Premiership, hoping to make it two wins of the bounce and keep them within two points of league leaders Sale Sharks. 

Bath City vs Beaconsfield Town

Bath City played host to Beaconsfield Town in the FA Trophy. The Romans came into the game as heavy favourites but the visitors would get the first chance of the game. Bath’s first chance came from Scott Wilson who forced Beaconsfield keeper Matt Rowley into a save from close range. 

Cody Cooke came close to opening the scoring he met a cross from Luke Russe and flicked his header wide, despite dominating the possession Bath had nothing to show for it yet. Cooke and Russe combined again in the 20th minute, this time Cooke provided the ball and Russe’s effort was steered over the bar by the Beaconsfield keeper.  

Will Buse had not had much to do but got in on the action to deny Joe Morrison from close range and despite looking the better side Bath were allowing Beaconsfield chances. 

Right on half time, Wilson fired Bath into the lead giving them a vital goal to see them go in at the break 1-0 to the good. 

Second Half

The second half got underway and Bath looked to add to their 1-0 lead. A few half chances saw Bath not sit back and intend to kill the game off. Goalscorer Wilson provided the best chance of the opening exchanges his ball into the box nearly found Cooke who looked to have been obstructed but no penalty was given.

Bath looked to be heading through to the next round of the FA Trophy with Beaconsfield not being able to challenge the Roamans in the second half. Joe Raynes went close for Bath as they sought to end the tie but his chance forced a save from the keeper. 

The remainder of the game saw Bath defend their lead with little resistance from the visitors and the full-time whistle would come sending Bath into the next round of the FA Trophy.

Bath Rugby vs Bristol Bears

Bath hosted the Bristol Bears looking to get another win in the Gallagher Premiership. Their 45-27 win over Gloucester gave Bath the confidence going into a very important game that could see Bath go 2nd in the standings. 

Bristol had come to Bath looking to win and in rainy conditions they got off to a better start, scoring first in the 6th minute. Magnus Bradbury opened the scoring with Callum Sheedy converting. 

The hosts would get their first points of the game in the 12th minute when Finn Russell scored a penalty making the score 7-3. Bath had their first points and in the 15th minute, they added their first try. Ollie Lawrence managed to find a gap in the Bears' defence and Russell converted giving Bath a 10-7 lead. 

Captain Ben Spencer extended Bath’s lead just two minutes later, the skipper scoring Bath's second try in mere minutes and Russell converted expanding Bath's lead to seven. With some strong back and forth the halftime whistle came and Bath went in at the break leading 17-7.

Second Half

The second half got underway and Bristol once again were the first to score. A try from Rich Lane and a conversion by Sheedy brought the game back to just three points. This time Bristol looked to take control of the game adding a second try of the half just four minutes later in the 55th minute Max Malins went over and restored the Bears’ lead. 

Bath had an opportunity to retake the lead through a penalty kick in the 59th minute but the attempt was sliced wide and Bristol remained in the driving seat. For now. 

Not much action would happen with replacements being made for both sides and Bath missing a penalty of their own it wouldnt be until the 70th minute that we would get the next scorer. With 10 minutes to go Finn Russell would step up for another penalty and this time he would score restoring Bath’s lead with only minutes to go. 

Despite a late TMO check for a tackle that could have seen Bristol have a chance being waved away the game would close out with just one point separating the two and Bath’s second win in a row moved them to 2nd in the Gallagher Premiership for the time being