Bath City V Chelmsford City FC
National League South, Twerton Park, Saturday 2nd December 2023, 3:00pm kick-off.
Following successful midweek excursions in their respective County Cup competitions, Chelmsford City and Bath City return to league action this weekend as the Clarets travel to Somerset to battle the Romans.
With four points separating City from Jerry Gill’s Bath team, Saturday’s game marks another important game at the top end of the tight National League South table as Simpson’s side look to continue their impressive away form.
Here’s all that Clarets supporters need to know ahead of this weekend’s clash.
Opposition:
Currently featuring in the second tier of Non-League football for the 12th consecutive season, the Romans are looking to build on their strong campaign so far and earn a National League South play-off place for the first time since 2020.
In the two full seasons since their play-off eliminator defeat to Dorking in 2019/20, Jerry Gill’s side have recorded 18th and 11th placed finishes in the league table. However, Bath fans will be optimistic of a higher finish this time around as the club looks to reach the National League for the first time since 2012.
Forward Scott Wilson has played a key part in the Romans’ strong performances so far, with the 31-year-old’s total of 11 league strikes this season placing him second in the National League South’s list of top scorers. Experienced striker Wilson arrived at Twerton Park in summer 2022 and scored an impressive 18 league goals in Black and White last season.
Wilson’s fellow attacker Jordan Thomas has also been in good form this season. 22-year-old Thomas joined the Romans from North Leigh during pre-season and has experienced a productive first campaign playing in the National League South, finding the back of the net 8 times so far.
In defence, centre back and club captain Kieran Parselle continues to be a regular feature of Gill’s side. The experienced defender, playing in the National League South for the 7th consecutive season, has been in good form of late after being named in the division’s team of the week earlier this month, following Bath’s 3-0 home victory against Aveley.
Playing behind the Bath backline is likely to be goalkeeper Slavomir Huk, who completed a loan move to Twerton Park earlier this week. On loan from Dorking Wanderers, Huk joined Marc White’s side in 2015 from VSS Kosice and soon became a fans favourite at the club, winning the player of the season in 2017 and 2018. The Slovakian played for Leatherhead on loan during the 2022/23 season.
Team News:
Dave Winfield will serve a suspension this weekend, following his red card against Truro last Saturday.
On the flip side, Ben Brookes is able to return to league action after serving his suspension last Saturday.
Attacker Ody Alfa is set for a spell on the sidelines, after the former QPR man was forced off last week against Truro with a groin problem.
Samir Carruthers and Callum Watts continued their recoveries from recent injuries after starting on Tuesday night against Halstead in the Essex Senior Cup. Both will be hoping for minutes at Twerton Park this weekend.
Getting there:
The trip from the Melbourne Community Stadium to Twerton Park is one of the longest away journeys Clarets fans will make this season, with it taking a little over 3 hours to make the trip from Essex to Somerset.
Train services to Bath Station are scheduled to depart from London every 30 minutes on game day, with the journey by rail taking around 1 hour and 20 minutes from London Paddington Station.
At the time of writing, there are still spaces left on the Chelmsford City Supporters Club coach. The coach departs Melbourne Park at 9:30am on Saturday, and supporters can contact @CCFC_Coach on X if they wish to travel on the coach.
Ticketing information:
Admission prices on Bath’s ticketing website are currently listed as follows:
· Adult: £15
· Senior (65+): £12
· Student/Under 18: £7
· Under 16: £2
How to follow the game:
Radio Clarets will be providing live audio commentary of proceedings at Twerton Park.
Clarets fans can find pre-match coverage of Saturday’s game, and live updates of proceedings in Essex by following the club’s X (formerly Twitter) page: @OfficialClarets and Instagram page: chelmsfordcityfc.
Post-match reactions will be found on the club’s website, official social media channels and on ClaretsTV.
Words by Jake Dixon.
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