Melksham Town (0) 1 Bath City (0) 2 – Pre-Season Friendly – Wednesday 24 July 2019 – InfiLED Arena

Melksham Town (0) 1 Bath City (0) 2 – Pre-Season Friendly – Wednesday 24 July 2019 – InfiLED Arena

Bath City collected their first win of pre-season against Melksham Town on Wednesday night. After a goalless first period in Wiltshire – where the Romans played out their only away friendly of pre-season – loanee Alex Hartridge and Tyler Harvey struck either side of a Jack Ball leveller.

Action in the first half was in short supply despite City by and large owning control of proceedings. Harvey came closest to breaking the deadlock when he struck the woodwork with a free-kick – having twice been denied in similar vein against Bristol Rovers. Centre-backs Hartridge and Matt Bower also saw chances come and go, the former missing from close in before Bower turned a header over the crossbar.

But Hartridge would make no mistake the next time an opportunity fell his way. The Exeter City loan signing powered home a header from Connor Riley-Lowe’s corner from the edge of the six-yard box. However, the Romans backline were caught cold seven minutes later when Ball picked up on a through pass and beat Ryan Clarke to draw the Southern League Division 1 South outfit level. Unperturbed, City kept pushing for the winner and were rewarded with Harvey’s second goal. The tenacious frontman raced in to charge down a clearance from the Town goalkeeper, whose eventual kick rebounded off Harvey and into the back of the net.

In all it was a solid workout for the Romans, ahead of the final week of their pre-season preparations before hosting Braintree Town in their opening league fixture on August 3.

Att: 476

City’s Line-Up: Clarke (c), Hartridge, Riley-Lowe, Bower, Batten, Richards (Mann HT), Raynes, Hamblin (Simpson HT), Harvey, Smith, Stearn (Watkins 58). Subs not used: Brunt, Harper, Ollis, Hillman.

Scorers: City – Hartridge (63), Harvey (79); Melksham – Ball (70)

City Bookings: none

Officials: n/a