Bath City (2) 2 Hartley Wintney (0) 2 – Saturday 17 September 2022 – FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round – Twerton Park

Bath City (2) 2 Hartley Wintney (0) 2 – Saturday 17 September 2022 – FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round – Twerton Park

Match Report by Mark Stillman.

Substitutes Kingsley Eshun and Anis Nuur stunned Bath City as Step 3 Hartley Wintney earned an unlikely replay from 2-0 down.

Alex Fletcher and Cody Cooke put City in the driving seat in the first half, but the Hampshire side stayed in the game as City failed to make their dominance count.

Eshun pulled one back before Nuur’s fabulous finish on 76 minutes earned another contest.

City opened the scoring on 34 minutes. Cooke broke away, his shot hit the inside of the post and Fletcher squeezed in the rebound past a player on the line.

A superb goal made it 2-0 on 43 minutes. Mesmeric control by Joe Raynes helped Tom Smith escape, his pass was tidily dispatched by Cooke to round off a fine move.

Cooke nearly made it three after the break but Adam Debois parried the ball against him as he tried to round the stopper.

The Row introduced Eshun on 64 minutes and six minutes later he netted when debutant Teddy Davey saw his drive blocked by Joe Wright to the forward who fired home through a crowd of bodies.

Half-time replacement Nuur shocked Twerton with a stunning leveller six minutes later, curling in majestically from 18 yards.

Raynes fired wide as City enjoyed a lot of territory in the closing stages but were made to settle for a draw.

Att: 857

City’s Line-Up: Wright, Raynes, Greenslade, Dyer, Parselle (c), Fletcher, Hayfield, Cooke, Smith, Frear (Spokes 64), Lines. Subs not used: Batten, Clarke, Mannings, Wilson.

Scorers: City – Fletcher (36), Cooke (42); Hartley – Eshun (70), Nuur (76)

City Bookings: Parselle (90)

Officials: R Ricardo, J Porter, M Broadhurst