Date: 9th
October 2012
Venue:
Privett Park
Full Time:
Gosport Borough 3-1 Bath City
Competition:
FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round
Attendance:
342
My Matchday:
9
GBFC Scorer(s):
Bennett (53), Flew (60), Wooden (64)
BCFC
Scorer(s): Sean Canham (27)
BCFC Line
Up:
- Glyn Garner
- Jim Rollo
- Dan Ball
- Mark Preece
- Gethin Jones
- Noah Keats
- Adam Connolly
- Chris Allen
- Sean Canham
- Kurtis Guthrie
- Aaron Brown
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| The long seated Stand. |
Bath City
were royally dumped out of the FA Cup in the 3rd Qualifying Round at
the hands of Gosport Borough in the Tuesday night replay.
After
knowing it was a replay it took me until Sunday to decide whether I could go to
the match. I wasn’t due to finish college until 4pm but thankfully we were
notified that the teacher was not in meaning I could leave after my law lesson
at 12.10. I got home just before 1pm and picked up a portion of chips from the
local pizza shop to have for my lunch. I got home to discover rain had hit the
south coast hard and that the game was in doubt. After getting my things ready
just in case the game was on I got a message at 3pm saying the game was on and
we were to travel down on the coach. I swiftly picked up my things and wandered
down to Twerton Park for 4pm to get on the coach to Gosport!
The journey
was fairly uneventful, the rain kept pouring down, Yorkie kept telling us the
game was off and that every time somebodies phone went off it meant the game
was off. Sadly for Yorkie the game went ahead eventually. We arrived into a
very sodden and unpleasant Privett Park at around 7pm. I parted way with my £6
and made my way round to the tea hut. I grabbed myself a burger and chips for
my dinner and moved over to the small smart stand to cover from the rain and
have a sit down. After texting my parents and friends to say I had arrived in
Gosport I decided to go over to the club shop. I was amazed to see programmes
from previous teams/games were on sale for 6 for £1, I ended up buying £3
worth, so 18 and managed to find a couple to give to Andy. I wandered back
around to the small stand where we were covered for the night and had a flick
through a few programmes until kick off came. The rain was still coming down
and to be fair to the club they did a very good job in getting the game on.
 |
| The brilliant Main Stand. |
As always it
was kick off and here is the BCFC website report:
“Bath City's season was dealt a savage blow as they crashed out of the FA
Cup to Southern League hosts Gosport Borough. Victory in tonight's replay would
have netted City Ј7,500 in prize money and a trip to Slough Town - ranked two
divisions below them – in the fourth and final qualifying round. Sean Canham
put them on course with a first-half opener but Gosport – who came within four
minutes of winning at Mayday Trust Park on Saturday – roared back with three
goals after the break to progress. The defeat casts a doubt over the future of
manager Adie Britton, who had stressed the importance of a cup run and its
financial rewards to his side's promotion hopes this season.
Aaron
Brown and on loan striker Canham both shot wide early on but Gosport were
unlucky not to go ahead when Sammy Igoe's shot on the turn came back off an
upright. Ten minutes later Gosport paid the price when City won two corners in
succession and Canham scored from close range. After that City began to
dominate, with Brown making good runs down the left flank, and the ex-Bristol
City man fired a blistering shot narrowly over the bar three minutes before the
break.
After the
interval it was a different story. On 53 minutes Justin Bennett brought the
scores level when he headed home after a fine curving free-kick form Ellis
Martin. Suddenly Gosport were flying. On the hour mark a free-kick conceded
some 30 yards out and taken by Martin flew through the City wall and beyond
keeper Glyn Garner. And City were buried four minutes later when Garner parried
Bennett's shot into the path of Dan Wooden, who fired home. There was no way
back for the visitors and they ended the evening without even being able to further
test Gosport keeper Nathan Ashmore. ”
 |
| View from the far end |
PRIVETT PARK is a very tidy and enjoyable ground to visit.
The ground is your typical 4 sided ground. As you enter via the turnstiles you
come onto the near goal end. This is uncovered and allows a good view from
behind the goal. Also situated behind this is the clubhouse (to the right) and
the club shop (to the left). Opposite this end is another uncovered area for
people to stand. The main stand is quite impressive, it has a very old
fashioned appearance and can hold around 400 people, but gives the ground
something special. It is a fairly tall stand, bigger than at Twerton Park. The
opposite side has a long 7 rowed seated stand. This can hold around 200-300
people in it and is very good shelter from the weather as well as giving a very
good view. On the whole Privett Park is a ground I recommend you visit if
possible, maybe when it’s not raining though.
So it had come to the end, Bath City were knocked out of
the FA Cup for another season after a shocking performance from everyone on the
field. There was no fight, desire of passion shown from any player wearing the
black and white stripes. It looked very much like the end for the failing Adie
Britton. We boarded the coach and settled down for the 2 hour journey back to
Bath. Fans were obviously upset and moaning, but I managed to get a bit of
sleep in, before returning to Twerton Park at around 11.30pm.
 |
| View of the near end |
The moral of the visit is….visit Privett Park!
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