Match report: BATH CITY 0 STAINES TOWN 1 (Marsh 88)
Tyrone Marsh struck two minutes from time as struggling Staines Town inflicted defeat on a lacklustre Bath City.
Marcus Gayle's side arrived at Mayday Trust Park with the worst defensive record in Blue Square Bet South but the hosts never really tested Staines, who rightfully left with all three points to leapfrog the Romans in the table after shading a dour contest.
Meanwhile, the future of City boss Lee Howells is unclear, with the first-team coach having lengthy conversations with chairman Manda Rigby and director of football Adie Britton and unwilling to speak to the media following the defeat.
With no league fixtures taking place in Bristol, the contest was billed as Pack the Park, with fans of both Bristol City and Rovers invited to Mayday Trust Park. The impressive crowd of more than 1,000 will leave disappointed, though, as the on-field action failed to match their enthusiasm.
Home goalkeeper Jason Mellor was the standout performer in an uninspiring first 45 minutes, with the City stopper making several good saves to keep Staines at bay.
Marsh was thwarted by the sprawling Mellor's legs, with the Bath number one also getting down well to keep out Jerel Ifil's shot from the edge of the box.
Louis-Rae Beadle fired high and wide after a good cross from visiting skipper David Wheeler, while it took City 20 minutes to test Staines keeper Jack Turner, although a fairly routine save was all that was needed to stop Mark Preece's header.
Marsh and Wheeler saw further efforts denied by Mellor, with the introduction of Kerry Morgan after 35 minutes finally adding some impetus to the home side's play.
Josh Low limped off with a hamstring problem and Morgan looked lively straight away, picking out Chris Allen with a good cross in first-half stoppage time, which was only kept out by a desperate Jordan Brown block.
City's best chances came early in the second half, with Preece seeing a header from Mark Canham's corner cleared off the line, while Adam Connolly shot wide when well placed. Debutant Elliott Chamberlain helped on Morgan's pass but Connolly failed to hit the target when challenged by the on-rushing Turner.
Morgan then fired over the top after a good jinking run from Chamberlain before Staines regained control in the closing stages.
When Mellor pulled off a stunning one-handed save from Wheeler with five minutes to play the game looked destined to end goalless but Marsh finally found a way past the City stopper soon afterwards.
Staines caught the hosts on the counter, with Wheeler racing up the left and crossing into the box. Although Gethin Jones was able to get his body in the way, the ball fell kindly to Marsh, who made no mistake from ten yards.
The defeat means Bath are without a league win since early January and they have now fallen to 18th in the table. They face a tough task to rectify their plight on Tuesday night when they travel to sixth-placed Farnborough.
BATH CITY: Mellor, Simpson, Ball, Jones, Preece, Canham, Connolly, Burnell, Griffin (Chamberlain 54), Allen (Brown 69), Low (Morgan 35). Subs not used: Walker, Keates.
STAINES TOWN: Turner, Mills, Brown, Ferrell, Page, Ifil, Wheeler (Drage 90), Ferguson, Marsh, Beadle (Taylor 79), Lodge. Subs not used: Garrod, Merson, Worsfold.
Referee: Mark Pottage (Gillingham)
Attendance: 1,073
