Bath City (0) 2 Malvern Town (1) 1 – Tuesday 29 September 2026 – Southern League Premier South – Cannon Clarke Stadium @ Twerton Park
Match Report by Mark Stillman.
Substitutes Matt Bowman and Enzio Boldewijn scored their second goals in two games as Bath City recovered from a goal down to overcome Malvern Town.
With the top levels experiencing an international break, the Romans needed the Swiss and Dutch midfielders to earn them three points in a controversial evening.
Scott Bartlett was dismissed from the bench in added time by referee Daniel Lamport.
But he would have heard the roars from the terraces soon after as his side made it five wins from five in all competitions.
Newly promoted Malvern Town, without an away win since April and the worst defensive record in the division, made a dream start in their first visit to Twerton.
With just over a minute played, Harry Clark’s harmless ball in was intercepted by Joe Raynes, before he and Ollie Tomlinson left it to one another.
Sam Clark nipped in and fell over Raynes’ trailing leg with a penalty awarded.
Having seen a spot-kick saved against Gloucester a week previous, Joe Tumelty made no mistake this time, staying central with Harvey Wiles-Richards diving to his right.
Sam Clark headed Charlie Johnson’s cross over when unmarked in the box as City were clearly spooked by the early deficit, with several passes going astray and needless offsides preventing momentum as Malvern were happy to sit in.
Ollie Chamberlain lashed over from the edge of the box from Callum Wood’s clever touch inside and Donovan Wilson scooped over from Pedro Elawar’s lay-off.
Elawar also blazed across the face of goal as the Romans continued to create despite not being at their fluent best.
Bartlett rolled the dice at half-time, withdrawing Chamberlain for Bowman, and it had a near instant impact.
Within three minutes of the restart, Jordan Tillson’s corner to the back post saw Bowman head in from a yard out, a similar story to his goal at Parkway.
Malvern spurned a glorious chance just shy of the hour when Sam Clark’s strength saw him get the better of Harrison Minturn before laying off for Tumelty, who wastefully ballooned over from 15 yards.
Manager Bartlett went into the book just before this opening and he was further incensed by referee Lamport on 65 minutes.
Elawar poked the ball through to Raynes on the right, who attempted to cut inside of Ben Baxter before appearing to be scythed down.
Even the Malvern players appear to stop as Raynes prodded the ball back to Harry Parsons, whose shot was tipped onto the post by Jenson Kilroy, relieved to see Elawar flagged offside to prevent a follow-up.
Bowman was booked for his protests as Raynes hobbled off to be replaced by Boldewijn.
The substitute’s first involvement saw him make space in the box before his effort was blocked by Matt Fulloway, and his free-kick from 30 yards was expertly plucked out of the air from Kilroy.
With the pressure increasing, Donovan Wilson should have fired City ahead on 77 minutes.
Having received the ball from Scott Wilson in the area, cousin Donovan got away from Johnson and Joe Bullock before losing all composure as he skewed horribly wide when he should have tested Kilroy.
Fortunately for him and the team, Boldewijn kept a cooler head three minutes later.
Tillson’s corner was missed in the middle but reached Boldewijn on the six yard line, who had time to control before deliberately placing into the roof of the net to send the home faithful into raptures.
Malvern soon introduced Kobe Chong and player Director of Football Ryan Brunt, a former City talisman, as they threw bodies forward in search of a point.
Both were involved in a moment of controversy in the 90th minute when Chong’s shot was charged down and batted deliberately away from goal by Wiles-Richards having chested the initial effort.
With Brunt closing down as he moved wide of goal, Wiles-Richards gathered and despite no protests, was deemed to have had the ball under control in his hands twice, leading to an indirect free-kick on the byline which came to nothing.
Elawar hit the stanchion from a tight angle before Bartlett received his marching orders during added time, supposedly for taking his complaints too far.
Dogged defending saw his side secure victory, completing five wins in a row for the first time since August 2015.
Att: 1083
City’s Line-Up: Wiles-Richards, Raynes (c) (Boldewijn 67), Tomlinson, S Wilson, Elawar, Chamberlain (Bowman HT), Minturn, Tillson, Parsons, Wood, D Wilson (Reid 83). Subs not used: Greenslade, Streczen.
Scorers: City – Bowman (49), Boldewijn (80); Malvern – Tumelty (pen 2)
City Bookings: Bowman (65), Boldewijn (90+5)
Officials: D Lamport, L Hinchcliffe, O Caskey