Jason Prior’s name was back on the teamsheet as Marc named a strong eleven to face 15^th place Bath City.

Our first attack almost saw us take an early lead when Alfie Rutherford made a darting run in behind and was picked out by Dan Gallagher. Rutherford shrugged off Bath’s Ollie Tomlinson with a brilliant turn, before firing a shot which thundered into the crossbar.

We continued probing with corners and long throws which put Harvey Wiles-Richards in the Bath goal under pressure – but we saw no reward for our efforts in the early exchanges.

Having not managed a shot in the opening twenty minutes, the Romans soon found themselves in front with a proper smash-and-grab goal. A long ball looped awkwardly over the Wanderers defence, and with Harrison Foulkes caught in no-man’s land, Brad Ash, City’s onrushing forward, found himself able to chip the ball delicately into the far corner. 20’ 1-0

The goal completely undid our boys’ early momentum, yet we continued working to find a route back into the game. The hosts’ box midfield moved as a unit to make the pitch as small as possible – meaning Wanderers’ creative players couldn’t get involved.

But it was the hosts who finished the half strongest.

A long throw in the dying seconds fell to City forward Scott Wilson, whose headed effort from five yards out somehow flew over the bar.

Half Time Bath City 1-0 Dorking Wanderers

Marc was keen to shake things up in the second half, moving to a back four to try and recover some ground in the midfield battle.

We did just that. Wanderers pinned the Romans back and within minutes we were on level terms.

Substitute Matt Briggs linked up beautifully with Josh Taylor to play a neat one-two, giving Briggs space to pull the ball back across goal from the right side of the box. The low cross was perfect – working its way to the far post for Muitt to finish off. 53’ 1-1

We kept our foot down and the comeback was complete within minutes when Rutherford made up for his early miss in the best way possible. A long throw from Taylor fell kindly to our number ten, who struck a half-volley perfectly into the left side-netting. 63’ 1-2

The hosts looked shellshocked, but their direct, vertical passes did offer the Romans some hope. Having conceded late at St Albans, an uneventful final twenty minutes would have been welcome.

But when Taylor – who had been booked for an innocuous foul in the first half – was shown a second yellow for timewasting over a throw-in, Twerton Park suddenly turned into a cauldron of noise for our boys to negotiate in the closing moments.

Taylor’s sending off saw an eruption of protest from the Wanderers players and bench and led to a lengthy stoppage – resulting in there being twelve minutes of injury time.

The home side had the ball in the net in the 91^st minute, but a foul on Foulkes gave our boys a lifeline.

We remained on the back foot: defending for our lives and desperate to hold on.

100 minutes on the clock, but the game wasn’t done there. Another City corner deflected kindly to Jordan Tillson, whose effort struck the roof of the net. 90+11 2-2

A tough point to take having initially turned the game on its head in the second half, but we turn quickly to hosting Hampton & Richmond at Meadowbank on Friday.

Full Time Bath City 2-2 Dorking Wanderers

Match Report by Charlie Partridge