Bath Primary Schools' Football Association

Bath Schools’ failed to make it three out of three yesterday as they succumbed 2-0 to Bristol Rovers U11 centre of excellence.

In wet and windy conditions the friendly fixture could not have started any worse for the young Bath side. Immediately from kick off Bath gave away possession and allowed the Rovers’ midfield to easily slip the ball through and score after just 30 seconds of play. A lacklustre display from the Bath side in the first quarter allowed Rovers to press the Bath defence and the ball spent much of the time in the Bath penalty area. Inevitably, another goal soon followed and after just 10 minutes Bath knew they had a real game on their hands as they found themselves 2-0 down.

Stern words were ushered during the break by coaches Tim Kirk and Dave Hedges and this seemed to have the right effect as Bath began to show the form which has seen them progress to the national finals.

Bath now competed better and gained more possession allowing the defence to play a higher line and push the midfield forward. Bath’s first chance came when a run from midfield by Bradley Norris (Oldfield Park) allowed him to cross into the 6 yard box, but Harry Daniels (St Stephen’s) was only able send the ball just past the outside of the right hand post.

With Bath Schools’ players Will Oswin and Jack Rowlands playing for the Bristol Rovers team, Bath was unable to convert pressure into goal scoring opportunities. In fact, it was then Oswin for Rovers who exploited the space down the Bath right hand side to put in some excellent crosses behind the Bath defence. Fortunately, the positional awareness of keeper Joseph Davies (WASPS) was faultless and he managed to clear any threat.

The next two quarters continued in much the same way with both teams competing well for possession and chances were few and far between. Bath’s best chances of scoring came when Norris twice outpaced the Rover’s defence to find himself one on one with the keeper, but the Rovers number 1 stood up well and saved on both occasions.

Coach Tim Kirk, “After an awful start we got back into the game and were unfortunate not to score. I thought Rovers were strong at the back and quick on the counterattack, and there are certainly a few points Dave and I have noted and we’ll work on them over the next couple of weeks. Overall though, I am very pleased as we showed character in fighting back to dominate large parts of the game. The boys are learning more with every game even at this stage of the season and that’s what is important.”