Taunton Town 2-1 Bath City
Somerset Premier Cup – Round 1
Monday 3rd October 2011 – 19:45
Just because something puts the word ‘premier’ in it’s name, it doesn’t necessarily make it any good. Take Premier Inn (despite how much Lenny Henry likes it), Carling Premier (fizzy rats piss, only with extra alcohol) and the Premier League (rubbish since Leeds were relegated).
Unlike those three examples, the Somerset Premier Cup is not crap – far from it. There are only a few things that get the good old folk of the West Country together – Wurzels concerts, tractor racing and The Somerset Premier Cup – a highly prestige competition, where the finest football talent Zummerzet all compete to win £100,000,000. I lie. The prize is an old battered trophy and probably a glass of cider.
Despite being able to compete against the superpowers of Welton Rovers and Bishop Sutton, for some unknown reason Bath City never seem to take the competition that seriously, which is a shame. This year however, there was more interest amongst City fans; mainly because we haven’t won a competitive fixture since April and were hoping to change this with victory over Taunton Town.
So keen were the City faithful to witness a win that 3 full coaches were run to the game. I’m a liar. 1 coach. I still lie. A minibus. Half empty. Still, that is more than the usual turnout for this tournament.
After work, I made the mad dash for Fortress Twerton, via my flat to shower and change, before boarding our transport to Taunton. I am all too familiar with this minibus. Last season I went to Darlington and back on it – twice. Someone yesterday pointed out the rather depressing fact that I have spent 24 hours of my life on it. Make that 27 after last night.
I don’t drive. I’m learning to. However I know a little bit about directions. I know there are such things as motorways. I know there is one called the M5. I was therefore puzzled why the minibus driver refrained from using this route, instead opting to give us a tour of the entire county of Somerset during the trip to Taunton. All very pretty, but I would rather get to the game.
After taking in the sights of Radstock, Wells, Street, Glastonbury and Blackpool (we took a wrong turn), we eventually arrived at the home of Taunton Town, Wordsworth Drive. It atmosphere was electric – like a Champions League evening at Anfield. It always is for Somerset Cup games. What’s more, it was a Monday, which meant Monday Night Football. I tried to look for the Sky cameras, but couldn’t see any. Shame.
The Sky TV cameras missing fromthe gantry
Having visited Lincoln City’s Sincil Bank Stadium at the weekend, Wordsworth Drive brought me down to earth a little and gave the harsh reality that we could be visiting places like this a lot more should we be relegated.
Sincil Bank – tinpot…
… unlike Wordsworth Drive
One really nice thing about the ground though was the outside bar. The clubhouse had burnt down in the summer – I don’t know why, maybe as a result of hooligan violence between Taunton and Tiverton fans. That rivalry is nasty and makes The Old Firm look like a playground scrap. The temporary bar did allow me to enjoy an ice cold pint of Thatcher’s Gold cider while watching the game. You would never get this in the Blue Square Bet Premier… perhaps going down is a good thing?
As it was the evening, I had to eat. Football grounds are not the best of places for catering and Taunton’s catering department is in much need of a visit from Gordon Ramsey and his Kitchen Nightmares crew. On the menu last night was sausage bap, bacon roll or burger. I went for the burger. I am very hygienic, probably too much. Therefore I wasn’t happy to see them reheating the pre-cooked burgers, ready to feed to me. I had a decision to make. Risk dying of E.coli or risk death by starvation. I ate the burger. I’m still alive and didn’t get ill – the burger even tasted quite nice.
Lovely food. Not what was on offer last night.
I was quite happy at this point. I had received a guided tour of The West Country, drank some cider and eaten a burger. My joy couldn’t last could it? Nope. The game started.
City fielded a very strong side. Whether the players out there took it as seriously as a league game, who knows; but these were no academy players from the youth team. The first half ended 0-0. City had been evenly matched by a team three divisions below them. Summer signing, Jamie Cook, who in February played against the likes of Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford for Crawley Town must have had a reality check.
Glamour Tie
I was a tad worried and went to find a toilet. Presumably all the original toilets were in the old burnt down club house. Therefore Taunton had installed temporary facilities – the kind you see at Glastonbury festival. I did my business in there, making sure I was quick. One miss kicked ball into the platstic WC and the whole thing would have fallen over, with me inside, covering me in faeces. I would have been in more dog doo than the football club.
The second half was much of the same. Then something happened. Something which has not happened since last season. Bath City scored a goal AND took the lead. I was so amazed, I didn’t know whether to faint or invade the pitch in a mad celebration of glory. I did neither. Instead I just clapped and cheered a little – woop woop.
As the game progressed it looked like Bath City were going to get their first win of the season. That evil witch who put the curse on the club back in the summer must have had the night off. Or so I thought. The witch obviously had fallen asleep, but was soon awoken. Seeing Bath City had taken the lead, she demanded normal service be resumed. The referee swiftly awarded Taunton a penalty, which their GOALKEEPER scored. Taunton then snatched a second, minutes later, to condemn us to another defeat.
It was depressing. Very depressing. The team left to chants of “Sacked in the morning” directed at Bath City’s manager. Luckily these came from the Taunton fans. Had any City supporter dared react in that manner, I would not be writing this blog right now, instead standing trial for murder.
Even the flag felt flat after that defeat
If the fulltime whistle and reaction of the home fans was depressing, the minibus trip back really made me want to O.D. on Calpol. The older fans on the minibus, began the inquest into what happened, most of whom demanded the City manager be sacked. Some of the comments were laughable “The board are scared of him” came one outburst, followed by “He’s unsackable”. For the second time in one evening, I was tempted to commit mass murder.
I made it back to Bath without killing a pensioner, was offered a lift back home by the Bath City chairman, but had already agreed to share someone’s taxi. I arrived at my flat shortly before midnight, went to bed and was up a few hours later to go to work. What a wonderful world.
Bath City lost again. 13 games played. Won 0. Drew 3. Lost 10. 5 goals scored. 22 conceded.
Last year, City were so good and took their new league by storm. This season, opposition teams cannot wait to play us. It’s depressing. What the hell’s gone wrong? I have absolutely no idea. The same management team who did so well in previous years remains. The core of the team from last season is still here. We simply cannot win games – or score.
I have watched football for many years. I have seen teams struggle badly (remember, my other club is Leeds). However in those instances, those clubs appeared to have other problems – off the field financial issues, change of management or players. This has not happened at Bath City.
When a club fails on the pitch, the fans form their own inquest into the problems, more often than not casting blame upon management or players. Sadly, this is happening at Bath City. The internet message board where City supporters go to air their joy and frustrations, and there have been a lot of frustrations this season, is awash with critical comments aimed at the management and team.
Have I joined in with the witch-hunt? No. Why? Because it would be unfair. As a football fan, one of my greatest annoyances is players who do not try or make the effort. It makes me mad. I will be extremely critical of any individuals I believe are not pulling their weight or appear lazy. This season at Bath City, I simply cannot fault the team for effort and desire. Every game we play, we lose (OK, apart from the 3 draws). Every time we lose, the players appear so dejected and depressed, it really is quite upsetting.
Bath City fans have been spoilt in recent years with title-winning campaigns and play off success. Now things are going wrong, it has come as a real shock. However, my view is that football fans should stick with their side through the good times and the bad; and assuming the players appear to be trying and making the effort, should receive the full backing of the supporters. After all, the dictionary definition of ‘supporter’ is “A person who approves of and encourages someone or something”
We may lose every remaining game this season. We may never score again this year. One thing is for sure, as long as those players are wearing the black and white Bath City shirt, I will be doing my job as a “supporter” and supporting my team.
The good times will return to Twerton Park, as will the crowds and positive comments from fans. However, I am like an elephant. I never forget and those individuals who turned on the club during one of its darkest days will not be forgotten or forgiven.
I love Bath City. Come on you stripes.
A few football clubs always seem to be in the news. Some, like Barcelona, make the headlines for success. While others like Leeds United and the fictional Harchester United from Sky One’s drama Dream Team are in the news because everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
This year Bath City have been in the news a lot. OK, not as much as some clubs like Manchester United – although I am sure if one of our players shagged his sister-in-law, attempted to keep it a secret, only for it all revealed on Twitter, I think there may be even more attention on the Twerton Park side.
No, Bath City have certainly had themselves in the spotlight this year. Back in March they caused fury with Daily Mail readers for giving Polish people a discount on a matchday ticket for a game against Grimsby. In the summer they attracted media attention by appointing a female chairman, causing further rage amongst Daily Mail readers (until they found out she was British born and bred).
Now they are in the news again. Yesterday there was controversy involving the Under-18’s side after five players and the manager were sent off in a Youth Cup tie with Newport County. Apparently the referee didn’t like the colour of two of City’s players’ pants and forced them to change. The problem being they were asked to do this in front of almost 150 fans. This may sound like something an elderly PE teacher would have done back in the 1970’s – nope, it was a modern day referee in the year 2011.
Bath City lost the game 6-0. They plan to appeal, presumably asking for the game to be replayed. Should they win their appeal, hopefully a referee with a shred of common sense will be put in charge; or maybe he would like to take the teenagers underwear shopping before the match?
Oh, and finally, before anyone makes any jokes about Bath City having a “pants season” I’ve heard them.
For the final few days of my week off, I went to Weymouth with Claire. We travelled to the south coast by train. The rail network has come under a lot of criticism lately. Well, ever since I can remember. While our train was on time, I did hear an announcement regarding another one which had been delayed. The man on the tannoy apologised for the delay. I just wonder how heartfelt this apology was, especially as it as a computer-voiced automated message.
Weymouth is a strange town. It has a beautiful coastline and is a really nice place to go on holiday. There is also a high street with all your typical shops. One minute you can be eating an ice cream and riding the donkey, the next you may as well be in Newcastle – although the locals are a little more “Oooh arrr” than “Howay the Toon”. Something Weymouth also has, like every other town and city in England, is chavs. Lots of them. This is probably because Weymouth has its own branch of Sports Direct. Whether the chavs came before Sports Direct, or Sports Direct came before the chavs, nobody really knows. It’s a little bit like the chicken and the egg.
Other strange sights included a woman with a pushchair. This may not sound strange to you. However, there wasn’t a child inside the pushchair, there was a dog. I have seen people carrying their dogs before. Whenever you see someone doing this, all respect for them is lost. Pushing a dog around as if it was a baby is one step further still. You just know the woman pushing the dog around has a photo of it in her car, lets it sleep in the bed and probably dresses it up. Oh dear…
Something else I realised about Weymouth is that it is actually quite a large town. You may be able to see from one end of the beach to the other, but to walk from our bed and breakfast to the harbour took ages. Google Maps tells me it was about a mile. Considering we made the walk a number of times a day, a lot of ground must have been covered. I always said I would never do a walking or adventure holiday, but think I may have inadvertently had one.
Now for something totally random, but spotted in Weymouth so technically it counts. In Tesco we saw Mince Pies. I am not going to get into the whole debate about shops selling Christmas stuff too early – we all know it happens and is stupid. However, I did find it strange how food designed to be consumed in December was out of date at the start of November.
Finally, the trip home. While the outward journey was nice, the return was not so pleasant. The train was busy, with people packed into the carriage like cows. Luckily we found seats. What made the trip a little unnerving was not the amount of people on the train, but the fact there was some bloke who had just been released from prison. He was boasting about his release and how he would probably be back in jail by Sunday. Needless to say, I turned on the passcode lock on my iPhone and hid it in my pocket. When he got off the train, you could tell every remaining passenger was thinking “Thank God for that”.
Yesterday was my first day off work. Most of it was spent indoors waiting for an engineer from BT to fix the dodgy internet connection. A lot of work was carried out and considering just the telephone line was being checked, a very large amount of mess made. In the end I ended up with a new Home Hub and wall socket. Apparently stuff was also done at the telephone exchange. I’ll wait and see if the problems have been fixed.
I was also asked by the engineer to perform a speed test on the line using my laptop. I’ve had my laptop for a few years now and bless it, while it does the job, it can be a little slow these days. If it was a person, it would be sucking Werther’s Original and watching Bargain Hunt on afternoon TV. It it was a dog, it would have gone to live on a farm. At least, that’s what the parents would tell their children. Yesterday however, with a telephone engineer in my flat and desperate to finish the job, I could have really done with my infirm machine working a bit quicker than normal. I would like to say it bounced into life, loaded Windows, found the new wireless network and performed the speed test duties in no time at all. Alas it didn’t. Cue an awkward 10 minutes while my laptop moaned and bitched, doing everything in its power not to do what it was supposed to do. I bet the engineer thought the laptop was clogged up with filthy porn. Which of course it is not. I never use it for porn. I use the five minute Freeview on Sky.
The disobedient laptop was not the only thing to trouble me yesterday. While happily watching TV after tea, a huge spider decided to casually stroll across the carpet. Sometimes you see them running for dear life like a soldier through enemy territory. Nope. This one walked across my floor, as if to say “You see me. I see you. Who’s the most scared? Not me. You twat”. I will admit. I probably was the most frightened. The one thing I had in my favour was a can of spider killer and a fly squatter. Needless to say, that cocky spider is no more.
Tonight I am off to football. Bath City against Luton Town. As City have not won so far this campaign, I am officially declaring tonight the first day of the football season. I’m so excited. Woop woop. At the same time, Leeds are playing Manchester United in the cup. Last time these sides met, Leeds caused a massive upset and beat their biggest rivals 1-0. If the same was to happen tonight, I am perfectly aware I will miss it (as I’ll be at Twerton Park). Therefore the remainder of the night will be primarily spent searching the internet for a dodgy copy of the game to download. I am off to Weymouth on holiday in the morning, so would need to find, download and watch a copy of the match by then. Otherwise the holiday will be cancelled.
About Me
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If you are after a website which gives advice on how to hack an iPhone X, download the latest Steven Seagal movie, or view nudy ladies, you've come to the wrong place and may now press 'Back'.
However, if you would like a lifestyle blog, written by a 30-something chap, living in Bath (England), feast your eyes on this.
You won't discover how to copy PlayStation 4 games. What you will find is a blog, covering life in the West Country, the highs and lows of supporting two unsuccessful football teams, while sharing a house with a wife and rabbit.
All written by a man, somewhere on the sanity-scale between normal and eccentric.
