Cotwolds District League : Gloucester V Bath 2-1
Goal Scorers : Erny Peibst (Bath)
Man of Match : Daniel Rosser (Bath)
The best of Bath opened their league campaign with a
2-1 loss away to Gloucester schools on Saturday.
After weeks of preparation, the Bath U11 Schools
district team were eager to get their inaugural season
off to a good start. However, a difficult pitch and a
more physical Gloucester side ensured that it was not
to be Bath's day.
The game began brightly with man of the match Daniel
Rosser leading the Bath defence against the pressure
building from the Gloucester attack. Twice Gloucester
went close to breaking the deadlock but goalkeeper Sam
Butler (St Phillip's) was in fine form to deny the home
side on both occasions.
Despite the pressure on their defence, Bath always
looked dangerous on the counterattack. A good passing
movement between the impressive Richard Watkins
(Chandag) and Lewis Hunt resulted in a corner being
awarded for Bath, and this led to the fIrst goal of the
game. With 20 minutes played, Erny Peibst rose above the
Gloucester defence to see his powerful header rebound
off the crossbar. It fell kindly to his feet and he made
no mistake giving Bath a 1-0 lead.
Just before halftime Gloucester levelled the scores
with a superb long range effort from Kieron Mace.
The second half saw a familiar story, with both sides
not giving much away. Although Joseph Symonds
(Southdown) went close for Bath with a powerful drive
into the bottom right hand corner, it was Gloucester who
took the lead with just 10 minutes to go. Slightly down
heartened, Bath struggled to get back into the game and
the game finished with all three points going to the
home side. Greg Taylor (manager), "After the way the
boys have played in friendlies over the last few weeks,
today's performance was slightly disappointing. The hard
surface and small pitch made it difficult for us to get
the ball down and in the end it came down to who was
willing to work harder to win the ball. Unfortunately,
Gloucester seemed hungrier than we were today. However,
the boys had a good day with near 100 people watching
and they will certainly learn from this game, which is
what it is all about. We have a cup game away to Newbury
next week and they are already talking about it!"
