Grubb Captains Weston to victory in Boxing Day Derby.
A windy, rainy Boxing Day at Twerton Park saw the Seagulls came out 0-2 victors courtesy of a goal from Gethyn Hill and an own goal from Bath City’s Nick McHootie the first leg of the Festive Derby Double-header.
Inside the first four minutes the Bath City goalkeeper prevented a back-pass going into his net by handling it, as a result the referee awarded Weston an indirect free kick inside the home side’s box but neglected to book him. Danny Greenslade laid it off to Dayle Grubb whose first time strike cannoned off of a City player and back into Weston’s possession, however they struggled to fashion any real chance after collecting the loose ball and Bath eventually cleared. Other than that, the first 20 minutes or so consisted of both sides getting themselves accustomed to the weather, with the horrible wind and rain making it almost impossible to play the fast paced passing that the Weston faithful are used to seeing.
As the game went on both sides looked to create chances, Jarrad Welch and Grubb constantly looking to probe the home side’s defence, however the Seagulls struggled to find half a yard to fire a serious shot on target. During a rare foray into Weston’s half, a sudden turn of pace gave a Bath forward the space to thunder a shot towards Luke Purnell’s goal, and the Weston ever-present may have been beaten but the crossbar denied the Romans.
The sides sought refuge during half time in the changing rooms from the unrelenting rain, with the score at 0 – 0. A seemingly fair score-line at the break as a result of the lack of clear-cut chances for both sides.
The second half was much more action-packed, end to end stuff for the full 45 minutes, seeing both sides looking to probe on the counter attack, with both Gethyn Hill and Tristan Plummer’s pace looking threatening for the Seagulls.
However Purnell was called into a fantastic save midway through the half; Bath managed to break through the Seagulls’ midfield and smashed a 35 yard strike towards the top left corner, and if not for the strong hand of Weston’s keeper it would have surely found it’s way in to the back of the net.
75 minutes in it was Weston that broke the deadlock; Forest Green Rovers bound Dayle Grubb found Welch in the right wing position with an inch perfect 50 yard pass, Welch brought the ball down fantastically well, drilling a hard low cross through his marker’s legs to meet Hill’s perfectly timed arrival in the box, who then swept the ball into the back of the net with his first touch, sending the Seagull Army into raptures and putting the away side 0 – 1 up.
That dampened what was already an already eerily subdued home crowd, their enthusiasm further doused with another goal from the visitors and convincing some to concede defeat and to head towards the exits. Once again Grubb was at the heart of it, feeding the ball again to Welch up by the left corner who put a cross into the corridor of uncertainty, a Bath defender diverted it goalwards and past his own goalkeeper to put the Seagulls 0 – 2 up with less than 10 minutes to play.
Huge defensive performances from Jason Pope and Danny Greenslade in particular were crucial to keeping the score line at that, and when the final whistle went the players and fans celebrated together.
Dayle Grubb’s final game before going off to Forest Green Rovers, the goal-scoring winger has been with Weston-super-Mare A.F.C since he was a sixteen years old and has gone on to become a key figure both on and off the pitch, captaining the side countless times. Everyone at the football club, from the fans to the directors, would like to thank Dayle for everything he’s done over the last nine years and we wish him the absolute best in all his new ventures. Keep tearing them apart Grubby!
FT: Bath City 0 – 2 Weston-super-Mare A.F.C
Weston XI: Purnell, Harper, Lee, Pope, Greenslade, Cane, Diallo, Welch (Kington 90), Grubb, Hill (Hunter 89), Plummer (Reid 75).
MOTM: Danny Greenslade.0