Bath City secured a thrilling 3-2 victory against National League leaders Worthing at Twerton Park, thanks to a brace from Will Jenkins-Davies and a maiden goal for Matt Bowman.
The visitors made an early impact when Jordan Alves was fouled just outside the box by Toby Byron within four minutes, earning Bath a penalty. Jenkins-Davies converted confidently, placing the ball into the roof of the net to give Bath an early lead.
Ten minutes later, Jaiden Putman made a fantastic run and nearly doubled the advantage, though his cross-shot was expertly blocked. Bath faced adversity just after the half-hour mark; goalkeeper Harvey Wiles-Richards was forced off after a clash with Teddy Jenks and was replaced by Charlie Binns. Despite this setback, Bath swiftly extended their lead to 2-0. A miskick from Odei Martin gifted possession to Bowman, who calmly slotted the ball past keeper Josh Jeffries from 12 yards.
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The second half began energetically for Bath, with Luke Russe sending in a low cross that narrowly missed Alves. Worthing started to press higher, but lacked clear opportunities until the 70th minute when Jenks capitalized on Binns’ failure to clear a cross, firing the ball home to pull a goal back.
Bath responded decisively. Substitute Alex Fisher forced a crucial save from Jeffries in the 77th minute, and Jenkins-Davies’ follow-up shot was blocked. Ten minutes later, Fisher sprinted onto a through ball from Putman and delivered a perfect cross for Jenkins-Davies to finish, restoring Bath’s two-goal cushion.
In stoppage time, Worthing managed a late consolation as Ollie Godziemski headed in, but the final whistle followed immediately, sealing Bath’s important win and lifting them clear of the relegation zone.
In another National League fixture, Weston-super-Mare’s promotion ambitions took a hit with a 2-1 defeat to new league leaders Hornchurch. Louis Britton had an early chance for Weston, which was denied off the line. Hornchurch took the lead in the 31st minute when Angelo Balanta netted from a free-kick.
Weston pushed hard in the second half with Luke Spokes’ long-range effort going over the bar, but Hornchurch doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Henry Hearn pounced on a slip from Dan Ellison and lobbed the goalkeeper Max Harris.
Weston fought back late, with Will Dawes scoring in the 88th minute off a Luke Coulson through ball. Despite several efforts from Britton and Dan Martin, Weston couldn’t find an equalizer. The defeat leaves them fifth in the table as the competition intensifies.