Romans’ ‘character and desire’ impress boss Gill
Freddie Hinds was the hero for Bath City as they saw off divisional rivals Slough Town to progress in the FA Cup at Arbour Park.
The Romans are now one step from their first appearance in round one since 2011 thanks to the 21-year-old’s delicate finish at the start of the second half.
City defended superbly in the closing 40 minutes leaving Ryan Clarke largely untroubled. The win was Bath’s third in four matches and arguably the most eye-catching at the home of fellow play-off finishers last season.
Jerry Gill lost Tommy Conway to injury, with new loan signing Lucas Tomlinson replacing him for his first start and Jason Pope recalled in a formation change.
Hinds’ trickery gave Slough a moment of panic on 27 minutes when he cut inside of Cam Mcgilp and went to ground, but referee Jason Richardson waved away appeals for a penalty.
Tomlinson and Callum Evans linked up well down the right soon after with the latter’s pull-back perfect for the onrushing Tom Smith, but he fired over from 12 yards.
Slough produced the only shots on target of the first half with Dan Roberts coming closest, but his stinging shot was parried to safety by Clarke. The City custodian also did well to tip Jack Mcknight’s low free-kick around the post to help the sides go into the break level.
Gill’s men posed more attacking threat after the interval and were rewarded five minutes into the second half with the game’s only goal.
Pope’s driving run from midfield saw him link up with Tomlinson. He found Tom Richards in space near the byline and his pull-back was controlled by Hinds, who composed himself before finishing with aplomb, dinking it across the advancing Jack Turner and into the roof of the net.
Slough nearly levelled within two minutes when Max Worsfold’s freekick was headed downwards by Sam Togwell, but Clarke tipped it over.
Paul Hodges’ effort from the resulting corner was charged down, epitomising the bravery of the Romans defence.
City could have nabbed another on the break. Hinds’ powerful drive flew just over the angle of post and crossbar. Mcknight thumped over from 16 yards.
The determination from the team earned a second clean sheet in four days and such effort will give Dartford a stern test in the league on Saturday as Bath look build on their bright start to the campaign.
Slough Town: Turner; Jackman, Lomas, Togwell, Bird (Harris 65); Kuhl, Mcgilp (Fraser 90+2); Hodges, Mcknight, Worsfold; Roberts. Subs not used: Hollis, Goueth, Edegbe.
Bath City: Clarke; Evans, Leak, Batten, Ball; Pope, Harley; Tomlinson (Grant 90+3), Smith, Richards; Hinds (Watts 66). Subs not used: James, Henry, Bahadur.
Referee: Jason Richardson
Star man: Tom Leak
Jerry Gill praised the determination of his makeshift side as they progressed to the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, and will learn their opponents in today’s draw (1pm).
The City boss was without Frankie Artus, Tommy Conway and Donovan Wilson, while Joe Raynes remains on the sidelines since his injury sustained in March against Weymouth.
It meant they could only name five of the allotted seven substitutes, but it didn’t deter the Romans as they overcame tough divisional opponents.
“The character, desire and work ethic of the whole team was outstanding,” said Gill. “We had to put our bodies on the line at times.
“You have to show great character now. You turn up for an FA Cup tie with no crowd, there’s no buzz. It’s down to your squad to make it what it is.
“It’s a good side that Neil (Baker) and Jon (Underwood, Slough’s joint managers) have got here. We knew it would be tough.
“That looked more like a Bath City team. Our shape and press was good, as was our organisation. Back-to-back clean sheets proves we’ve got a real desire to defend.
“It was a really good cup tie all round settled by a wonderful goal. A fully deserved result in the end.”
Gill confessed it has been more difficult to enjoy City’s decent start to the season because of the current ban on crowds at elite sporting events due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
“We won on Saturday and I felt a bit flat.” he said. “I couldn’t go in the bar and have my usual chat with supporters. You almost feel a bit of a low straight afterwards.
“We want to go as far as we can in the FA Cup. We want to have a run in it.
“I hope people watched the game on the stream tonight. Every week we’re doing it for our fans. We miss them – there would have been a good following here.
“Rest assured they’ll be back at some point. We’re doing everything we can behind the scenes and putting in performances like that to please our fans. Football is all about the fans.”
On the pitch, the back four stood firm with Tom Leak impressing. The centre-back is on a month’s loan from Walsall and City haven’t conceded from open play since his arrival a week ago.
“Tom does what it says on the tin,” said Gill. “He heads balls, makes clearances, he’s here to defend. Alongside that I thought Jack Batten was outstanding.
“I wanted to go a bit more solid with a back four. Freddie Grant’s been unlucky to miss out. We played with a back three here last year and Slough made it difficult for us, so we wanted to change it around a bit.
“I thought about using Jason Pope in a holding midfield role when I signed him. I’ve seen him play there for Weston. He was terrific tonight.
“There were some big performances throughout the team. The subs that came on played their part as well.”
Lucas Tomlinson played almost the full game in a comeback from a pre-season injury, and his energy gave Slough’s defence a few problems.
“Lucas should have only played an hour to 70 minutes,” admitted Gill. “But when Freddie Hinds was cramping up he had to do more.
“What a shift he (Tomlinson) has put in. He showed great quality and has great balance. I’ve been aware of him for a while and he would have played before but for his injury.
“We’ve been unlucky that we haven’t been able to field our strongest XI yet. It’s exciting to think about the players we have to come back in. We’re down to the bare bones now ahead of a really tough game at Dartford.”
City have played at Princes Park four times, losing all four and conceding 11 goals in the process and scoring just one, but the Romans picked up an eye-catching 3-0 home win against the Kent outfit last November.
Steve King’s men were play-off finalists last year, losing to Weymouth in the final on penalties. He’s assembled a large squad to try and go a step further this term.
“They’re probably the favourites for the league,” said Gill. “I looked at their friendly last night at Sittingbourne, I think they’ve got 24 players.
“What comes with that is pressure. If you have a budget like that and players with good quality you’ve got to try and keep them all happy.
“We’ll pay them utmost respect, it’s a manager who knows this league inside out.
“That said, we’ll go there with confidence on the back of these last two results and performances.”