Wealdstone 1-3 Bath City

Gordon Bartlett’s men failed to continue their undefeated ways after the hosts suffered a 3-1 defeat to Bath City in the Fa Trophy Second Round at the Vale.

Wealdstone previously went on an 11 game unbeaten run in all competitions with their last five games ending in a draw.

But considering the anticipation of a decent cup-tie, it was the visitors who came out on the front foot and forced a mistake out of the Stones’ defence in the second minute.

Carl Martin gave the ball away in his own half for Dave Pratt to advance into the box, feed Andy Watkins who beat Sean Cronin and fired his shot under Conference South player of the month Johnathan North.

But the hosts gave a valid response, as Elliot Godfrey drew Wealdstone back level three minutes later.

Martin pushed forward to play a lovely through ball into Richard Jolly, and the striker chipped a cross into the box for the midfielder to dive in and power his header into the bottom corner.

Considering Wealdstone responded well and drew back level, they went back to being second best throughout the first half, as the back four were struggling to deal with Bath City’s offensive style of play.

City later smashed the bar from a Ben Adelsbury header, but then regained the lead in the 22nd minute through Ashley Kington.

Again the ball fell loose in the host’s box and the striker pounced to beat Martin and fire his shot across North into the bottom corner.

Wealdstone were desperately on the back foot, and six minutes later things nearly got worse but the improvisation of captain Wes Parker saved their blushes with a fantastic goal-line clearance.

But the third goal was inevitable, and Frankie Artus made it count in the 38th minute.

From a corner City’s initial header was cleared off the line by Godfrey, but the clearance fell to Artus who drilled his shot into the bottom corner.

The game looked out of Bartlett’s reach already, as a memorable team talk was needed to boost morale in the dressing room.

As the second half began Wealdstone looked no different and were fortunate at times to not be trailing by three goals.

As on the hour mark the golden chance fell to striker Scott McGleish which may have made the cup-tie interesting for the last 30 minutes.

Shaun Lucien beat right-back Dan Bowan before whipping in a fantastic ball to the far post for the striker, however the 39-year-old failed to make the chance count.

After this moment things didn’t pick up for the hosts, and the tie slipped away from the Ryman premier League champions.

Next up for the hosts is Chelmsford City at home, who sit sixth in the league and another defeat could put the Stones in hot water.