In the rearranged fixture from New Year’s Day, Weston made seemingly light work of local rivals Bath City, winning their first home league game of 2018, in front of former Seagulls Rollin Menayese, Lloyd Humphries, loanee Harvey Smith and talisman Dayle Grubb, who made up a small part of the supporters in the crowd.
The Seagulls took an early lead in the 12th minute, when left-back Danny Greenslade was played in down the left-hand side. His cross fell to Shaquille Hunter, whose first swing made no real connection. With his second attempt, Hunter fired the ball like an arrow past England U20 World-Cup shot stopper Luke Southwood and into the corner for his first Seagulls goal.
Nat Jarvis fired over when well placed for the visitors, and Weston continued to search for a second. Naby Diallo and Hunter played a sharp one-two, with Diallo receiving the ball inside the box. His shot at goal was palmed away by Southwood, and Hunter could only blaze over from the follow-up.
Weston racked up their second on the half-hour mark when Greenslade again beat his defensive marker far too easily, his pull-back came Jake Lee’s way. The striker’s first attempt was blocked by a defender, but with Southwood already committed, Lee stayed composed and calmly rolled the ball into the back of the net to double Weston’s advantage.
Weston and Bath both exchanged blows up until the interval, with Jarvis, Antoine Semenyo and James Morton going close for the visitors, whereas Greenslade had a free-kick plucked from heading into the top corner by Southwood.
Following the interval, Bath came out quickly and a Ross Stearn free-kick rattled the bar. Ginger menace Tom Smith was on hand to bundle in the follow-up though amidst a goalmouth scramble, to make things a bit more interesting, and to give Bath the belief that all was not lost.
Jack Batten saw a header saved by Luke Purnell, who recently extended his contract, before the home side went 3-1 up. Plummer broke in down the left and was bundled over by substitute Ryan Case, with Gethyn Hill stepping up to the spot. The Welshman fired the penalty down the middle to score his 12th league goal of the season.
Smith and Stearn both had efforts on goal to reduce the deficit, but Weston were to be credited with a fourth a few minutes from time. A misplaced Naby Diallo seemed to be easy pickings for the duo of Batten and Southwood, but to many a Weston fans’ delight and Bath’s utter horror, Batten’s back-pass went below Southwood and trickled into the net.
There was still enough time for Bath to get a second though, when Case drilled in below Purnell to settle the night’s scoring as Weston take bragging rights for the season.
FT: Weston 4 – 2 Bath (Hunter 12, Lee 30, Hill pen 65, Batten OG 89-Smith 48, Case 90+4)
Weston XI: Purnell, Harper, Greenslade, Cane (C), Pope, Parsons, Hunter (Welch 68), Diallo, Hill (Scott 90), Plummer (Kington 74), Lee. Unused substitutes: Laird, Reid.
MOTM: Jacob Cane – Once again imposing himself on the midfield, with the Captain making some excellent challenges to retrieve the ball, kept possession simple and ran his heart out, as expected!