HOLNESS TO BREAK
OMAR Holness left it late to head Bath past plucky Wessex Leaguers Shaftesbury. With just eight minutes left, he substitute was perfectly placed to nod in his first goal for the club from Eddie Jones’ cross.
Shaftesbury defended tremendously throughout with Billy Maybury outstanding. And they looked set for a replay before Holness’ late intervention.
Proud Shaftesbury joint manager Ollie Cherrett told The NLP: “We were absolutely superb. But fair play to Bath. A little bit of quality got them the goal and the win.”
Cherrett and joint boss Wayne Smith oversaw Christchurch’s memorable run to last year’s third qualifying round, and were hoping to lead Shaftesbury to that stage for the first time in their history.
An upset didn’t look likely early on as Bath dominated possession, with Alex Cull’s full-stretch save to his left denying Mo Touray.
The Rockies were rocked when makeshift centre-back Mali Benjamin was stretchered off with a knee injury in the 26th minute.
A reshuffle didn’t do the hosts much harm as City probed but struggled to test Cull, with Cody Cooke’s header headed off the line by wellplaced captain Louis Kellaway.
Jamaican international Holness almost netted straight after coming on, with an overhead kick from Ben Gerring’s flick. But Cull sprung to his left to bat the ball behind.
The Dorset outfit defended in depth and tried to play on the break, a plan which almost worked when Joe Wickham found Jamie Wilson in space but the British Virgin Islands international shot too close to debutant keeper Archie Matthews.
The Romans finally scored when Holness met Jones’s cross with a thumping header from six yards which gave Cull no chance.
City threatened a second, and reached the third qualifying round for a tenth season running.
“Some people expect you to put four, five or six past a lower division side,” said Bath boss Jerry Gill. “But a lot of credit has to go to Shaftesbury, they defended for their lives and I have a lot of respect for the way they go about things.”