‘Trust is key to a team that could become even better’
Jerry Gill labelled his side’s start to the season as ‘fantastic’ and hinted that this side aren’t even at their best yet.
The Romans have collected seven points from their opening four matches following Saturday’s win over Braintree Town.
Gill’s new-look team appeared to have gelled well on and off the pitch.
“We’ve got a really confident group that trust each other – that’s the key word,” he said. “They trust us and we trust them.
“What you saw out there was a really good side. Their manager came in and was very respectful, said what a fantastic performance it was from us and admitted we fatigued their team.
“I felt for the whole game that we dominated the ball, moved it side to side, that was the game plan.
“It’s been a fantastic start to the season.”
City fell a goal down but, like the two matches previous, they took something from the contest.
Their seven points collected from losing positions matches the number won from similar situations in the league last year. Between December 2020-March 2022, Bath conceded the first goal 20 times in all competitions and lost the lot.
“Once again we saw that resilience and character, togetherness and spirit to come back in abundance,” said Gill.
“They’re all contributing, the back four were really solid and covering each other apart from the goal, which was a disappointment. They shouldn’t score when a ball has gone across the six-yard box.
“But those are the bits you’re going to have in a game. It’s not going to be perfect. “Anyone who has watched the match will see it as a pretty fair result I think.
“We knew they’d turn balls around the corner, be a physical challenge and they’re good at what they do. Their manager has recruited that type of player.
“It became a football match at the end when they started to play it around like us.”
Alex Fletcher became City’s sixth different goalscorer this season while Cody Cooke is on three from four starts, adding to the 39 notched between the duo last term in all competitions.
“They’ve built a relationship over the past year and understand each other,” said Gill. “You want to get your leading marksman off and running and get players scoring from all angles on different parts of the field.
“There are contributions from all over. I still don’t think we’re at our best but we’re playing very, very well. We’re almost where we want to be. I feel this is like a team I saw four years ago. The difficulty for others is to try and stop us.”
Fletcher’s header was the 300th netted by Bath in Gill’s tenure, with the match seeing him overtake Adie Britton as City’s longest serving manager since Tony Ricketts’ stint between March 1991-May 1996.
“I didn’t know that until Mark (Stillman) told me before the game,” Gill admitted. “I’m proud as punch to be manager of Bath City Football Club.
“Last year was a difficult one for me but what I’ve tried to show is what my team is – resilience.
“In the summer I thought ‘let’s tweak it a bit.’ I went back to what I thought our team could be and I’ve worked hard in recruitment to do that.
“We’re getting our rewards for it at the moment.
“I like these accolades of course, but it’s not for me to sit back and say ‘I can’t wait to get something for it,’ it’s about the next game.”
The Bank Holiday weekend has landed City with visit to newly promoted Farnborough, who are unbeaten in their first two home fixtures, before a Bank Holiday Monday match-up with Slough Town.
“All these games are tough,” Gill stressed. “I honestly can’t say any games are easy any more.
“Farnborough are on a crest of a wave after promotion and we know how well organised Jon (Underwood) and Neil (Baker)’s teams are at Slough. They always work ever so hard. We’ll have to be at our best for both of those games but we’re really confident.
“It’s irrelevant what the results are at the moment. All I can do is prepare – I’ll watch the opposition games back, we’ll do the pre-match scout report like always.
“We’ll see what they’re good at and what their weaknesses are and then the focus always goes to us. We’ll try and keep improving. It’s not always going to be roses but it’s how we deal with setbacks.
“Right now they’re dealing with them very well. We look a very good outfit.
“If we can be the best version of Bath City and every player can be the best version of themselves individually we’ll have a great chance of winning the game.
We’ve got a really confident group that trust each other – that’s the key word. They trust us and we trust them. What you saw out there was a really good side. Their manager came in and was very respectful, said what a fantastic performance it was from us.
Jerry Gill, inset