First strike ends drought
Ryan Brunt’s Tuesday night goals against Gloucester City marked the next stage of the frontman’s return to action from injury, writes Mark Stillman. The 25-year-old joined Bath City in the summer having stepped away from full-time football and two injury-ridden seasons at Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City. He came through pre-season without a hitch and has now featured in each and every one of the Romans’ four games to date this term. Saturday’s victory at Hampton & Richmond Borough was in no small part down to Brunt, who came on at half-time and made a nuisance of himself as a physical presence up top, after the hosts had had much the better of the first period. He topped that off by opening the scoring three minutes into the Gloucester game for his maiden City goal and first competitive strike since February 2016 for Argyle against Crawley Town in League 2. “It was a long time coming, scoring a competitive goal again, so I’m really pleased,” Brunt said. “First and foremost getting the result and the performance was much better. “I think we started on the front foot. our performance was ten times better tonight. “It was fluid, I guess being at home with a bit of dew on the pitch, it just really helps us. “We started well and 3-0 was a great result for us.” Now fit and healthy again, Brunt, who also owns a gym in Exeter, is loving Twerton Park life. “I’m really enjoying it,” he said. “I came here to play football and enjoy it at the same time; take that pressure of full-time football away. “I’ve settled in really well and the lads are great. It’s a real good bunch of players, all with varied things going on in their lives and it’s great.” Brunt will battle with non-league goal machine John Mills for the spot up top for much of this season. Each have now started two games and Brunt is fine with the competition and rotation. “I think I’m fine to play a full 90 minutes,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of games thick and fast over the last two weeks, so I think the manager’s been cautious in that and having to change. “He’s brought Millsy in and he’s deserved to play as well. “I understand it’s not just a case of I’m always going to play, so I have to work hard for it. “Hopefully my performance tonight shows that.” He added: “There are going to be times when we both play, there are going to be times when I play and there are going to be times when Millsy plays. “That’s the life of a striker. Unfortunately you get swapped around more than defenders and midfielders I guess.” City boss Jerry Gill has sought out a well-rounded squad for this season’s promotion push. Brunt believes the formula bubbling in the dressing room is just right. “You’ve got the likes of Sean Rigg and Strakes who have played in the league and played a lot of games,” he said. “Then you’ve got Joe Raynes that have come in, he’s not a right-back but he’s played and been fantastic for us. “It’s a really good mix of lads; hungry lads that actually want to achieve something. “The manager has that same desire and I think that’s a real thing that will us far this season.” This coming weekend, City face their first ever league encounter with newly promoted Dulwich Hamlet. “We were chatting before actually and we don’t know much about them,” Brunt said. “I think the manager had them watched, so we’ll prepare on Thursday as we have done. “We need to put in the same performance as we have tonight on Saturday. “If we start the first 15 minutes like we did today, I think we’ll have no problem.”