Gareth Stewart conceded a late penalty
DORCHESTER TOWN
1	Gareth Stewart
2	Mark Jermyn		81
3	R. Marsh-Brown
4	Danny Clay
5	Roy O'Brien
6	Kevin Hill
7	Nick Crittenden		63
8	Jamie Mudge
9	Ryan Moss
10	Wes Fogden
11	Jamie Gleeson
Substitutes
12	Mitchell Nicholson		63
14	Nathan Peprah Annan
15	Patrece Liburd		81
16	Helder Rodrigues
22	Regan Coward
BATH CITY
1	Steve Perrin
2	Gethin Jones
3	Jim Rollo
4	Matt Coupe
5	Chris Holland
6	Mark Badman
7	Lewis Hogg
8	Adam Connolly
9	Stuart Douglas		70
10	Dave Gilroy		85
11	Richard Evans		90
Substitutes
12	Martin Slocombe
14	Darren Edwards		70
15	Scott Rogers		90
16	Steve Jones		85
17	Alistair Gibb
Referee
S. Robbins (Bristol)

Thursday 1st January 2009
		Dorchester Town	0
		Bath City	2
		Holland 58, Edwards pen 88

Magpies suffer at hands of Romans

by Ky Capel

Dorchester entered the New Year with little more than a whimper as they suffered a second 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bath City in the space of seven days.

Second half goals from Chris Holland and Darren Edwards, the second of which coming from the penalty spot, handed the away side, who were reduced to 10 men in between the two strikes, a deserved victory.

The Magpies were far from their best, failing to manage a single shot on target, and will probably wish that the pitch inspection prior to the game had produced a different verdict.

Dorchester boss Shaun Brooks named an unchanged line-up from the Boxing Day defeat at Bath with defender Gary Bowles still absent through illness.

In arguably the most uneventful half at the Jewson Stadium this season, the visitors forced the early pressure, earning two corners inside five minutes before keeper Gareth Stewart had to be quick off his line to beat Dave Gilroy to ex-Terra Stuart Douglas’ bouncing through ball.

Once Dorchester began to make inroads towards to the Bath goal, Nick Crittenden found himself denied by a crucial block 14 yards out.

Neither goalkeeper was forced into any serious action amidst a first period in which the ball spent more time in the air as opposed to on the deck.

The first shot, from either side, did not arrive until the 43rd minute when Mark Jermyn tried his luck from all of 35 yards only to see his effort fly comfortably wide.

Seconds before the interval Ryan Moss should have done better from 20 yards but dragged his timid low drive off target.

And with that miss the referee brought an end to a tepid opening 45 minutes.

In stark contrast to the first half, an attempt at goal was made 47 seconds into the restart. A long throw-in was not dealt with by the home defence but fortunately for them Gilroy’s hooked effort bobbled wide of Stewart’s left-hand post.

Three minutes later City’s Adam Connolly produced the first shot on target, however, Stewart got down to make a routine save.

Bath almost found the opening goal courtesy of a Dorchester head. Richard Evans’ free-kick on the right side was whipped in dangerously and Moss’ clearance whistled over the top of his own goal.

From the resultant corner, the away side appealed for a penalty, claiming handball against Danny Clay, but saw their protests waved away.

At the other end, Magpies’ top scorer Jamie Mudge blazed high and wide as the hosts looked to relieve the Bath City pressure.

But they could do nothing to prevent the Romans taking the lead five minutes later. Douglas laid the ball off to Lewis Hogg on the left corner of Dorchester’s penalty area and he unleashed a ferocious strike that beat Stewart but not the far post.

Luckily for the visitors, defender Holland was in the right place to hook home the loose ball.

Another dull period arrived and lasted until the 76th minute when Bath substitute Edwards closed down Kevin Hill’s clearance but saw his intervention roll straight into the arms of Stewart to the relief of the home skipper.

The Magpies found themselves attacking minutes after and Wes Fogden saw a close-range effort deflected out of harm’s way for a corner which came to nothing.

Dorchester were handed a lifeline with seven minutes remaining when Mark Badman lived up to his name and saw red for foul and abusive language after the award of a free-kick in the home side’s favour.

However, the county town outfit shot themselves in the foot courtesy of a moment of madness from Stewart.

The former Bournemouth stopper collected the ball inside his area while under pressure from Edwards. But as he looked to pump the ball upfield, the Bath forward was still in his way and Stewart reacted by pushing the opposing man to the ground. Referee Robbins had no hesitation in awarding a penalty.

Stewart escaped with a booking but was sent the wrong way from the subsequent spot-kick, which was successfully taken by Edwards.

	MATCH STATS
4	TOTAL ATTEMPTS	7
0	ATTEMPTS ON TARGET	3
4	ATTEMPTS OFF TARGET	3
0	HIT WOODWORK	1
3	CORNERS	5
3	OFFSIDES	1
13	FREE-KICKS CONCEDED	9