Bath City vs Chesham United

Recap

This draw extended Chesham’s unbeaten run to six games although four of those have been drawn.  This was another case of Chesham feeling they could and should have won, after controlling the first three quarters of the game until Bath equalised against the run of play. There were five changes to the team that drew with Chelmsford on Tuesday.  Connor Roberts and Callum Adebiyi returned after being rested and Ashley Lodge, Joe Grant and Mitchell Weiss were promoted from the bench, with Avan Jones, Lewis Rolfe, T’Sharne Gallimore, Nathan Minhas and Karl Oliyide dropping out.

Chesham had the best chance of the opening half in the ninth minute, when Mitchell Weiss crossed from the right and Alex Lafleur laid the ball into the path of Samson Esan who shot over from just outside the six-yard box.  Both sides struggled to come to terms with a bumpy pitch and the home side failed to carve out a decent chance in the half.  Chesham again came close on 35 minutes, when a Connor Roberts free kick came to the far post where Joe Grant and Connor Stevens both had chances but could only hit the woodwork.  Seven minutes later Alex Lafleur pulled the ball back from the by-line and Joe Grant’s shot took a slight deflection and flew over.

Chesham finally broke through ten minutes into the second half when Samson Esan pulled the ball back from wide on the left and Karl Oliyide, who had only just come on as a substitute, stroked the ball past keeper Harvey Wiles-Richards and inside the far post.  Six minutes later Alex Lafleur pulled the ball back from the left and Karl Oliyide’s back-heel was blocked and the ball scrambled away.  Bath made a triple substitution after the hour but Chesham were still looking comfortable.  However on 69 minutes Jordan Tillson punted a hopeful ball down the middle, Chesham’s defence hesitated and Jordan Alves stole in to poke the ball past the advancing Dillon Addai and into the net from just outside the area.  The goal brought the home crowd to life and Bath began to come more into the game, but they still rarely threatened the Chesham goal.  Chesham had two more chances in stoppage time, when Lewis Rolfe had a shot on the turn that was blocked and the resulting corner cleared as far as Mitchell Weiss whose shot was saved by Wiles-Richards.