Chelmsford City start a new month after a very busy January but face a similarly packed February as well with a minimum of 7 games scheduled for the shortest month of the year. They start February by taking on mid-table Bath City on Saturday 4th February, 3pm kick off.
The opposition
Bath City sit in 13th place after 27 games in the Vanarama National League South this season. They have won 9, drawn 8 and lost 10, scoring 37 goals and conceding 37 in the league campaign so far which all adds up to 35 league points so far. Bath have struggled lately on their travels with only 1 win in their last 7 away trips but Chelmsford need to get back to winning ways at home after back-to-back 1-0 home defeats.
In terms of players, Bath had recently brough in Cheltenham loanee keeper Max Harris with 40 year old Ryan Clarke acting as backup so far this season. In defence they have former Chippenham player Kieran Parselle who moved down the M4 last summer to become Bath City captain. They also have long-serving centre-back Jack Batten and former Exeter loanee Jordan Dyer who made his move permanent to Twerton Park last summer.
In midfield they have a lot of experience in the shape of former Bristol Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday man Chris Lines, as well as former Grimsby and Torquay player Luke Spokes. They also have former Motherwell and Forest Green winger Elliott Frear who is a dangerous customer from wide areas.
Up front they have one of the most prolific marksman in the league in the shape of Cody Cooke who has 11 in the National League South games this season. They have brought in experienced front-man Scott Wilson who has been at Macclesfield, Oldham and Dagenham and has rejoined Bath after a spell there in 2014. They also have a couple of loanees in forward areas in Exeter youngster Sonny Cox and Bristol City man Olly Thomas.
Bath’s boss is a legend of the club in Jerry Gill. He played for Bath between 1990 and 1996 and then went on to play for Birmingham, Northampton and Cheltenham. He returned to Somerset to become Bath manager in 2017 and has led them to the playoffs twice in his spell in charge.
Previous Meetings
City have won 3 in a row against Bath City last season although all those victories have been by a single goal. On November 1st, Harry Lodovica’s great strike earnt City a 1-0 win at Twerton Park. Last season, goals from Dara Dada and Adam Morgan beat Bath in Somerset and a solitary Tom Blackwell goal was enough for City at Melbourne in January although Bath were denied a late penalty when the referee overturned his initial decision after a chat with his assistant. That win at Bath last season was City’s first there since 2017 when Kudus Oyenuga and Lee Barnard scored as the Clarets came from a goal down to win 2-1.
Team News
Jamie Yila could return from his injury but it still might be too early for midfielder Liam Trotter to come back after being injured at York. Frankie Terry went off at half-time at Hungerford with an injury and new left-back Ben Brookes is suspended for 1 game after being shown 2 yellows in his final game for Hashtag last Saturday at Wroxham so Robbie Simpson has a headache on the left side of defence. Dave Winfield and Henry Ochieng’s suspensions do not kick in until the next league game. Chelmsford City’s new loan signings Ernaldo Krasniqi and Ody Alfa are both in line for debuts.
For Bath, Dan Greenslade is suspended after picking up 10 bookings and Joe Raynes is a doubt with injury so Bath could be an unchanged squad.
Ticket News
Tickets are now available to be purchased in advance of the 15:00pm kick-off on Saturday, 4th February and can be bought by clicking this link.
Adult – £13
Senior (65+) – £9
Concession – £9
Full-Time Student – £5
Youth (12-17) – £5
Under-12s – Free
Entry can also be purchased at the turnstiles on the day at the Melbourne Community Stadium.
Ticket prices on the day:
Adult – £15
Senior (65+) – £10
Concession – £10
Full-Time Student – £5
Youth (12-17) – £5
Under-12s – Free
A programme will be available to purchase on the day for £3 or a digital subscription to The Claret can be purchased here.
Where to follow the game…
The Club will be providing coverage of the game on Twitter (@OfficialClarets) using the hashtag #TheClarets.
There will also be live audio commentary from Radio Clarets.
Post-match reports and interviews will be found on the club website, social media and ClaretsTV following the game.
It is set to be a warmer day than recently with temperatures of 10 degrees expected at kickoff with cloudy skies overhead.
by