Boss seeking more ambition after academy cruise to win
Bath City Academy continued where they left off with a comfortable win over Champion Sports Academy thanks to goals from Connor Westerside and Leo Eglin.
It was both teams’ first outing of 2021 in the South West Counties Youth League, where unbeaten Bath are joint top with Bridgwater and Mangotsfield.
Despite that, City Academy boss Billy Clark is demanding more from his side.
“I said to the players afterwards that we still need to get better and very quickly,” he said of their first match since 12 December.
“We lacked a bit of fluency. It wasn’t a particularly eye-catching performance.
“It was a typical performance from a side that hasn’t been together for a very long time. We haven’t trained very much either.
“It’s about development and I want them to develop a habit where they want to win games and leagues. They should be ambitious.
“I still want us to finish first or second in this league. With no disrespect to Champion Sports, if you don’t win these games you can’t think about first or second.
“The season is still very young. Normally by your fourth of fifth game it feels like pre-season is still with you. We don’t get a chance of another pre-season so we need to look after ourselves and make strides forward within the training times that we have.”
Having started on the front foot, Westerside rounded off a delightful move to give the hosts an early lead. Charlie Tiley won the ball in midfield, played it perfectly into Alfie Andrews’ path and the wingback’s precise cross was fired home at the far post by the onrushing forward from six yards.
“It wasn’t an easy finish for Connor,” said Clark. “He’s done well to get it on target.
“It something we’ve worked on recently – getting deliveries into the box. We’ve got good pace on both sides with our wing-backs. It’s really pleasing to see it come off.”
Eglin’s low drive from the edge of the box sailed just wide whereas their Dorset-based opponents offered little going forward, with Malakai Stanners’ strike following a jinking run failing to trouble Mackenzie Welch in the Bath goal.
The second half offered more chances with Eglin spurning the first, wastefully blazing over from Andrews’ centre.
Westerside linked up with Marley Carpenter on a counter attack but could only find the empty Bath End terrace as the Romans looked to put the game to bed.
“In fairness to Champion Sports they’re technically very good,” acknowledged Clark. “They’ve got some decent players.
“Every game is a test. I said to the players before that it’s a test on how we approach the game – we need to make sure our standards are going in the right direction.
“It does look like the players have looked after themselves in terms of their fitness.”
Will Butler finger-tipped Eglin’s low effort wide having seen the finesse taken out of the shot by an earlier deflection.
Stanners offered Champion’s best chance of an equaliser when he latched onto a long ball, but Lloyd Land did enough to put him off before he tamely shot at Welch.
Sports substitute Jack Crouch also hooked a difficult chance over after Dom Clay nodded Oliver Wooley’s free-kick into his path.
Instead, it was one of City’s subs who helped make the game safe.
Eglin’s free-kick was charged down but he helped the ball back into the area for Kai Williamson, on 10 minutes earlier for Carpenter, who was bundled over by Aaron Matthews.
Eglin took the resulting kick and calmly slotted it down the middle to make the points safe.
“The most pleasing thing is the clean sheet, it’s our first of the season,” Clark highlighted. “I don’t think we were under loads of threat in that department.
“The game was finely balanced before our second goal. You could see that something might happen.”
The youngsters travel to Swindon Supermarine on Saturday (KO 10.30am) hoping to extend their unbeaten campaign.
“Swindon have started quite well and we haven’t played them yet,” said Clark about their upcoming opponents who currently sit fourth. “They’re new to the league so we’re not quite sure what to expect.
“It’s another opportunity for us to improve.
“I’m delighted to be back. We’ve got a really good group of players in terms of their ability, personalities and characters, I’ve enjoyed working with them again in the last few weeks.”
Bath City Academy: Welch; Courtier, Paradise, Land; Andrews, Whitson, Eglin, Tiley, Bahadur; Westerside (Kelsey 80), Carpenter (Williamson 68). Subs not used: Longhurst, Ewins, O’brien. Champion Sports Academy: W Butler; Cleaver (Dunlop 46), Foden, Clay, Mitchell; Wooley; Stanners (Cleaver 85), C Butler (Kershaw 61), Matthews, Mcgill (Crouch 52); Ford (C Butler 71). Referee: Kant Mann