Mehew sees red as Bath are knocked out of FA Trophy

BATH City exited this season’s FA Trophy at Twerton Park with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Southern League Premier Central side Peterborough Sports.

The decisive goal came in firsthalf stoppage-time and Bath finished the game with ten men following Tom Mehew’s second booking midway through the second period.

With Step 3 leagues suspended and Bath coming into the game on the back of a three-week coronavirus break, it was both sides’ opening game of 2021 but only the home side showed any rustiness during a one-sided first half.

Three corners for Sports in opening five minutes set the tone, although Bath briefly responded on 10 minutes when Tom Richards’ diving header was saved by Lewis Moat.

A combination of Will Henry and Grant Horton denied Abduramane Sano Sani on 19 minutes, then ten minutes later Lewis Hilliard’s freekick crashed against the crossbar with Henry appearing to get a slight touch to the effort. Just when it looked like Bath would reach the break level they gave the ball away in midfield and Sano Sani sent Mark Jones clear on goal to fire past Henry at his near post.

The second half saw the visitors understandably begin to tire but they still posed a threat going forward, with Jones heading Dion Sembie-Ferris’ cross just over.

Bath’s hopes suffered a further blow on 66 minutes when Mehew received a second yellow card. Despite this they began to pose more of an attacking threat but Moat was rarely troubled in the Peterborough goal.

Sembie-Ferris missed another clear chance in the closing stages.