Worcester City 0 Bath City 1

5:53pm Monday 25th August 2008

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WORCESTER City manager Richard Dryden must be cursing his luck at the referees he has endured this Bank Holiday weekend.

Upset by the performance of Anthony Coggin at Weston on Saturday, he must have been fuming at the display of Steve Phipps today as they crashed to a 1-0 defeat at home to Bath City.

But all that cannot excuse the appalling misses from his strike pair of Mark Owen and Marco Adaggio in a matter of seconds of each other.

Having won a dubious penalty nine minutes from time, the second questionable spot-kick of the game, Owen tamely hit the ball straight back at Bath’s veteran keeper Steve Perrin.

The ball trickled out and Adaggio came storming in but blasted over from just four yards.

City had got themselves back into the match after being comprehensively outplayed in the first 45 minutes.

But the Bath back-line held firm as Worcester’s disappointing Bank Holiday weekend ended with just one point from two games.

The Romans had spent most of the first period drawing their battle line in the City half. They battered them from pillar to post.

However, it needed just the slightest of touches from Graham Ward on the back of Stuart Douglas to send the Bath striker crashing to the floor.

Douglas picked himself up and duly sent Danny McDonnell the wrong way one minute before the break.

Whatever Dryden said to his men in the dressing room during the interval appeared to be working.

However, they know that, for the amount of chances they created in that second-half, City should have converted at least one of them.

Gary Walker, so disappointing in his last Lane outing, had the best opportunity from open play for the hosts, but Perrin is a wily old performer and punched his 20-yard drive over the bar.

Creating chances is one thing but when your strike pair miss gilt-edged opportunities like they did here, then it could be a long season.

Dryden, for whatever reason, is persisting with his skipper Craig Wilding out on the right flank and it is not working.

Wilding is looking lost and if Owen and Adaggio are going to pass up the chances handed to them on a plate perhaps once the skipper has served his three-match ban for the Weston-super-Mare red card, it might be time to bring him back to lead the line.

Suddenly, after five matches into this Blue Square South campaign, that flying start seems a long time ago. What is more is they have lost their last two games at St George’s Lane.

City: McDonnell 6, Ward 6, Khan 7, Richardson 7, Barnes 7, Walker 7, Wilding 5, Price 7, Owen 5, Adaggio 5, Dinsmore 8*. Subs not used: Richards, T Wood, Fitzpatrick, Tyack, Brown.

Bath: Perrin, G Jones, Rollo, Coupe, Holland, S Jones, Hogg, Rogers, Douglas (Cochlin 74), Carey-Bertram (Paul 85), Simpson (Badman 64). Subs not used: Slocombe, J Wood.

Referee: Steve Phipps (Abingdon).

Attendance: 915.