Post by admin on Feb 27, 2024 22:50:46 GMT
Coulthirst hits the winner from the spot for IRON - image by Scott Weaver.
Bath City 1 Braintree Town 2
by David Ward
A vastly improved second half performance ensured the Iron came back from being a goal down to score twice in the second half to earn them a deserved win and three points at Twerton Park on Tuesday evening.
It meant the Iron have now won seven times on the trot scoring 15 goals and only conceding four goals and this latest win now puts them up into fourth in the league.
In reality it was a game of two halves with the home side having more of the play in the first half as they dominated the midfield with the Iron not fully on to their game but the second half saw a complete reversal with the Iron controlling the game and creating several scoring chances and looking more like the style and discipline of their current form.
Starting with the same liner-up that beat Worthing on Saturday the Iron early on struggled to impose any authority on the game and they allowed the home side to take the lead on 16 minutes when they were caught out in defence when a quick ball was played through for the Romans to take the lead.
For the remaining ten minutes before half time though the Iron appeared to finally find their feet and Shaquille Coulhirst was unlucky not to score from close range with home keeper Josey Casa-Grande pulling off a great last minute save.
The second half though was a totally different story as the Iron managed to get their act together and on 68 minutes they finally equalised with Aaron Blair finding the home net from close range after good build up.
With Iron keeper Jack Sims pulling off two great saves in either half the Iron continued to push hard and six minutes from the end they scored what would turn out to be the winner.
It came from another good build that saw Coulhirst skip through the home defence and was clear on goal until he was brought down in the area by keeper Casa-Grande who received a yellow card for his troubles.
Up stepped Coulhirst to fire the resultant penalty kick into the net much to the delight of the 24 travelling Iron fans in the 1,212 crowd and with it a fully deserved victory.
Manager Agelo Harrop was delighted with his side's second half performance adding: "We didn't find our movement and cohesion in the first half but after some harsh words in the interval all the players redeemed themselves with again a great deal of energy, effort and commitment.
"Over the whole game I felt we fully deserved our win and full marks to the players responding to the half time criticism," he said. "Each game is different and at time you have to adjust your style in a game but I felt we were in full control in the second period and with a little more luck in front of goal could have scored more on the night."
Next up for the Iron is the short trip to Welling Utd on Saturday where they will face their former manager Rod Stringer now in charge of the Kent side. Kick off is 3pm