Bath
Schools resumed their campaign with a resounding 5-0 victory
over Swindon Schools at the University of Bath on Saturday.
Despite the wet conditions, both teams settled early and used
the quick surface to move the ball on the
ground.
With both teams striving
for an early advantage, it was the home side who created the
first chances of the match.
Impressive runs by Lee
Hedges (Chew Valley) on the right wing resulted in a number of
good crosses into the Swindon goal area, but strikers William
Oswin and Alex Jacobs were unable to break the
deadlock.
The first goal finally came after Bradley
Norris converted a free-kick from 25 yards into the top right
corner.
Although the visiting team had many first team
players missing, Bath were unable to increase the lead in the
first half with the Swindon defence standing firm.
The
second half saw Swindon begin brightly and it was only good
defending from Chandag pupil Jamie Smithies that prevented the
visitors from equalising.
However, with Swindon unable
to make the most of their chances, Bath duly increased their
lead.
Man of the match Jack Rowlands (St Stephen's) put
up a strong performance in midfield as most of Bath's play
became directed through their left wing.
Oswin was able
to capitalise on this with four goals, two coming from 20-yard
free-kicks.
Coach Tim Kirk said: "It was a great
result. Last year we played some wonderful football without
managing to score many goals.
"After the first half I
thought that would be the case today.
"However, Will
Oswin did very well to score four very well-taken goals and it
could have been more had we been a bit braver in front of goal
from crosses.
"It's going to take time for the team to
reach their full potential but they've made a good
start.
"There are some talented boys in the squad and
if they all show the determination and flair shown by the
likes of Jack Rowlands and Bradley Norris today, I am sure
they'll have a very successful
season."
