Romans out of the play-offs
Bath suffer defeat against Dorking at the first hurdle
Jerry Gill was left deflated as Bath City fell at the play-off eliminator stage for a second year running.
Goals from James Mcshane and Jason Prior gave Dorking Wanderers a 2-0 lead at the break, and although Ryan Brunt’s penalty gave City hope, their late pressure wasn’t enough as the Surrey side hung on to progress in a match played behind closed doors.
It was deja vu from last season as the Romans conceded early in a play-off clash and it proved key according to Gill.
“The first goal is really disappointing, it doesn’t give you a foothold in the game,” he said. “You need to get a rhythm in these games, especially when you’ve been out for three or four months.
“We spoke about it before the game, what Dorking are good at and what their strengths are – crosses in the box from wide areas.
“The clearance from the cross is very poor and it’s almost a free hit for them.
“We calmed down and got on with it, but then the second one came along.
“For the second one we weren’t tight enough in a wide area, allowing a very good cross to come in and a great header.
“These boys have got character, they’ve got drive, but it’s tough for any team to come back from 2-0
down.”
In between those goals City had chances as Alex Hartridge headed over from Lloyd James’ corner and Tom Smith’s 20-yarder thumped against the crossbar.
Dan Bowry nodded Prior’s header off the line to prevent a third before the break, but City struggled to make inroads in the second half until Brunt’s goalbound shot was handled by Ben Dyett, leaving the front man to dust himself down and convert the resulting penalty.
Andy Watkins, who impressed as a substitute, missed a glorious chance in added time which would have taken the match to penalties.
“If Watto had taken that chance I felt like there was only going to be one winner,” said Gill.
“I feel for Watto because he’s been here a long time, I wish he could have taken that chance. But he didn’t, that’s life.
“We had a right good go and the subs have made a big impact. We were getting stronger the longer the game went on.
“It’s not like they’ve played us off the park – they’ve just been stronger in key moments of the game.
“It was a bit like the game I watched yesterday [Saturday] – Yeovil were the better side by far but they didn’t take their chances when they came and Barnet did.”
Gill acknowledged Dorking’s strong defensive rearguard with goalkeeper Sam Howes shielded superbly by a flurry of brave blocks.
The ambitious Surrey outfit travel to Weymouth on Saturday for the semi-finals as their bid for an unprecedented 12th promotion since formation continues, though manager/owner Marc White will be banned from the dugout following a late dismissal at Twerton for foul and abusive language.
“Congratulations to Marc and his team.
“They’ve taken their two chances from our mistakes and they’ve not allowed us capitalise on a lot of second half pressure going down the slope.
“They’ve got a lovely tie to look forward to at Weymouth and I wish them all the best.
“They’ve probably defended the 18-yard box better than us.
“My players’ commitment, work ethic and attitude was terrific, they kept going until the end. But in key areas we were not strong enough.”