Liam Prior-Tack’s dramatic 94th-minute goal secured a thrilling victory for Uxbridge, propelling them to the top of the Southern Premier South and ending Bath City’s impressive unbeaten streak.
The substitute’s sharp finish from close range stunned the home fans, snatching all three points for Uxbridge. Despite Scott Wilson giving Bath City the lead earlier in the match, Francis Amartey’s equaliser with 18 minutes remaining kept the visitors in contention.
Bath City, whilst creating several promising opportunities, especially in the first half with their distinctive 3-1-4-2 formation, struggled to capitalise on chances after the break. Uxbridge, meanwhile, had to contend with a shaky performance from their stand-in goalkeeper Kacper Orlowski who, brought in late following Dino Kaiser’s recall from Fulham, found himself uneasy with crosses throughout the game.
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The opening stages featured competitive exchanges, including shots from Ollie McCoy and Troy Perez-Duah for Uxbridge, and threat from Bath through Ollie Chamberlain and Kieran Parselle’s headed efforts, the latter being crucially cleared off the line. James Morton, marking his 100th appearance for Bath City, delivered a precise corner that allowed Wilson to score a fine goal for the hosts.
Uxbridge’s best chance to equalise came when George Moore, the club’s longest-serving player, missed from close range on 58 minutes. However, their persistence paid off as Moore’s pressure led to Ollie Tomlinson’s defensive slip, allowing Amartey’s shot to slip through Parselle’s legs and deceive Wiles-Richards in goal.
Both sides made numerous substitutions after the hour, with Uxbridge’s Prior-Tack initially missing a key chance before firing home his late winner following a swift counter-attack.
After the match, Uxbridge manager Danny Edwards admitted he would have accepted a draw, while Bath City’s Scott Bartlett expressed his frustration over the second-half decline:
“We were the best we’ve been for 45 minutes. First half we were really connected as a team, second half we weren’t so. I was really happy with the first half. We implemented some things we wanted to do and will do going forward. We were expansive, we switched the ball well and won many duels, as well as scoring a brilliant goal.
“We didn’t maintain that enough in the second half. We got deeper and invited a lot of pressure. We had close to 20 set-pieces with James Morton delivering most on target. We need to improve our returns from these opportunities.
“There was a bit of a weak mental strength in continuing to play out from the back, which had given us a good foothold. Uxbridge stuck at it and showed their willingness to beat us at the end.”
The match also saw the debut of Pedro Elawar for Bath City, a versatile midfielder who has reunited with Scott Bartlett after previously playing under him at Weston-super-Mare. Born in Portugal, Elawar progressed through Yeovil Town and Exeter City’s youth systems, with various loan spells before injury sidelined him last season. Recently recovering, he was brought to Bath City to gain valuable game time.
Elawar played 80 minutes in his debut match against Uxbridge before being substituted.
Looking ahead, Bath City will travel to face Wincanton, who play in the Jewson Western League Division One, three divisions below, in what will be their first meeting.