FINAL SCORE

Bath City dazzled under the Twerton Park lights as a Ryan Brunt double helped see off Gloucester City. The Tigers simply couldn’t tame the frontman, with Ross Stearn chipping in to seal a comfortable win. Brunt was recalled in place of John Mills in City’s only change from Saturday, and he took just three minutes to open his account. Patient play down the left saw Anthony Straker whip in a perfect cross for the forward, who escaped the defence and nodded in from six yards, his first goal since February 2016 for Plymouth against Crawley. Joe Hanks forced Ryan Clarke into a regulation save, shooting straight at the Romans custodian from 25 yards, before Brunt doubled his, and Bath’s, tally on 20 minutes. A perfectly threaded ball through from Adam Mann saw Brunt remain onside, and he confidently fired into the bottom corner to give Matt Yates no chance in the Gloucester goal. The Tigers hunted for a way back into the game, with Clarke having to be at his best in parrying a stinging Adam Page strike after City failed to clear a free-kick. Brunt looked hungry for a hattrick, coming close on a few occasions, ending with a flicked header wide from Stearn’s cross from the left. Hanks tried to squeeze the ball past Clarke from an acute angle, but the slightest of touches from the Bath glovesman parried it behind for a corner. City wrapped up the scoring just after the hour. Another Morton through ball did the trick, this time Stearn the beneficiary as he lashed the ball across Yates to make it 3-0. It was his first goal at Twerton Park since New Year’s Day 2015, with his previous ten all arriving away from home. Jerry Gill was able to give some players a hard-earned rest, and handed Matt Richards his first action of the season, as the final 28 minutes saw them contain a weary Gloucester with ease. The hosts nearly added a fourth in stoppage time when Jack Batten’s header from Richards’ freekick was tipped over by Yates. Promoted Dulwich Hamlet are likely to give Gill’s charges a stiffer test on Saturday, but a repeat performance from Bath would see many sides in the division struggle to stem their rhythm, as the City boss will be hugely satisfied to have recorded back-to-back successes.