Yeovil Town (1) 3 Bath City (0) 0 – Tuesday 10 May 2022 – Somerset Premier Cup Final – Huish Park
Match Report by Mark Stillman.
Yeovil Town are the 2022 Somerset Premier Cup winners having overcome arch-rivals Bath City in Tuesday’s final.
Morgan Williams, Tom Knowles and Ben Barclay were on target for the Glovers at Huish Park.
Having ended the season unbeaten in five league games, City found Charlie Lee’s National League outfit a step too far and although not completely overawed, they struggled to seriously test Grant Smith in the home goal.
The result concludes Bath’s 2021/22 campaign as their hunt for a 25th Somerset Premier Cup triumph goes on hold for another year.
Manager Jerry Gill had just two substitutes available for the club’s first final in 14 years while Yeovil, who have bedded in academy players in this competition, went full strength and that decision paid off with an early goal.
Knowles’ long throw wasn’t fully dealt with and Jordan Barnett’s whipped ball from the left evaded Max Hunt but landed kindly for Williams who controlled well and drove past Ryan Clarke from eight yards, the goalkeeper getting too hands on the effort but not enough to keep it out.
It was an early setback for the Romans and Yeovil suffered one midway through the half when Hunt landed awkwardly on his ankle following an Elliott Frear corner and hobbled off with Matt Worthington taking his place.
Rueben Reid guided an effort wide after Town countered through Knowles and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton before City linked up well down the left in first half stoppage time which nearly reaped its rewards.
Alex Fletcher and Frear were the architects before the latter pulled it back to Cody Cooke, who drove his shot into the ground which bounced up for Smith to gather at the second attempt.
Yeovil made a flying start to the second half, doubling their advantage on 48 minutes.
Knowles was given far too much room on the right in a counter and having cut inside of Zak Delaney he found himself one-on-one with Clarke before easily side-footing past the exposed keeper, a 10th goal of the season for the Glovers’ Player of the Year.
Richards sought to halve the deficit five minutes later when Cooke’s flick left him with Smith to beat, but he shot too close to the home stopper who deflected it behind for a corner.
Dave Sims-Burgess was introduced for Eddie Jones and made a lively start, crossing from the byline for the well-placed Richards who opted for an acrobatic volley which sailed well wide when he had time to try something more straightforward.
The excellent Knowles hunted for a second when his mazy run tied the City defence in knots but his finish let him down, blazing into the empty Thatcher’s End.
Bath gifted the hosts a third on 83 minutes when Lawson D’Ath’s corner was headed home by the unmarked Barclay from six yards. A shoving match ensued after with Clarke and Josh Neufville cautioned as yellow cards became commonplace in the final few minutes, Richards and Bath boss Gill also entering Scott Jackson’s notebook.
The Romans couldn’t notch a consolation for their vocal band of supporters as Yeovil comfortably saw out the final stages to claim the cup for the first time since 2005 in their final first team outing at Huish Park this season.
Att: 1016
City’s Line-Up: Clarke (c), Raynes, Delaney, Fletcher, Holness, Cooke, Smith, Frear, E Jones (Sims-Burgess 64), Ball, Richards. Sub not used: Fuller.
Scorers: City – none; Yeovil – Williams (7), Knowles (49), Barclay (83)
City Bookings: Delaney (14), Clarke (84), Richards (87)
Officials: S Jackson, R Blackman, K Gould