Bath City signings raise hopes in pre-season
19.07.2021
The Bath City Romans enjoyed encouraging pre-season success ahead of their 21/22 campaign in the National League South. Like clubs across the football pyramid, Bath struggled with pandemic restrictions and Covid cases, suffering a full squad isolation as recently as November 2020. However, as a sustainable fan-run club since 2017, the club bounced back for pre-season. With new players infusing fresh blood into the squad, the club look to build on a concerning run of form last season.
Before a null and void vote curtailed the season, Bath city languished at 18th in the table, with a mere 13 points and 4 wins from 13 games. While the league leaders Dorking Wanderers played five more games than them in the short campaign, Bath’s -7 goal difference gave fans cause for concern. However, the club gave their supporters a taste for success in their last league game, with a 2-1 win at Havant and Waterlooville. In the summer, Bath shored up their back lines and added a threat up front to keep the momentum up for the campaign ahead.
Center back Ben Gerring from Woking, right back Eddie Jones from Chippenham, and central midfielder Omar Holness from Darlington should all help steady the ship at Bath, fostering assured build-up play and reinforcing Bath's foundations. In addition, experienced center forward Cody Cooke provides aerial threat and danger in the box to keep Bath competitive. Cooke enjoyed a successful 7-year career at Truro City, scoring 47 goals with the National League South Side. After opening his accounts with a couple of goals for Woking last season, Cooke is already developing chemistry with the Bath squad in their pre-season friendlies.
Cooke wasted no time to make his mark on the scoresheet with Bath, contributing to their 5-1 friendly win at Larkhall. Playing a vital role in their 4-1 win at Frome and their 2-1 win at Paulton Rovers, Cooke provides the squad with grit and goalscoring accuracy. Manager Jerry Gill expressed approval of Bath’s new signings, stating that ‘what we’ve got from Cody Cooke and Ben Gerring is a real threat, a real danger’. Although it’s early days and the squad needs time to settle in, Gill suggested that ‘you see the characters already’.
Bath did also get thumped 5-0 by Championship powerhouses Cardiff City, but the club can take a lot from a largely successful pre-season. Their perseverance, evolution, and sustainable grassroots ownership exhibits the passion and ambition required to foster a potent semi-pro side. With Gill hinting that ‘we wanna take on quality’ as Bath remain ‘looking to sign a couple’ before the campaign kicks off, Bath fans have a lot to look forward to as they return to Twerton Park.
