Chelmsford City's recent dip in form continued on Saturday as they fell to a home defeat against relegation strugglers Bath City.

Bath had suffered a torrid festive period with a string of results that had seen them tumble back towards the drop zone. And after City's own under-achievements of late, Paul Parker's men must have been confident of picking up the points in their ongoing pursuit of a top six finish.

The reality was quite different however, as Jamie Gosling's thunderous finish on 26 minutes found the net to silence New Lodge.

The match continued in scrappy fashion, and as Bath looked increasingly likely to hang on for a rare away success, City's equaliser was greeted with considerable relief.

A flurry of corners threated Mark Hervin's goal, and on 75 minutes the Clarets finally made one count, as Danny Hockton rose unchallenged to head home.

Instead of pressing for the win however, the home side sat back, and Bath regained their advantage with six minutes remaining, as Lee Collier was left all alone inside the box to drill the ball past Richard Hurst.

Just as in recent weeks against Kettering and Merthyr, Chelmsford's pursuit of an equaliser left large gaps at the other end, and after being put through one-on-one with Hurst, Bath midfielder Andy Williams slotted the ball under the unprotected keeper deep into injury time to complete the win for the Avon club.

A lack of league fixtures means Parker's men maintain 11th spot, though they'll need to soon rediscover their early season form if they are to avoid being sucked into the relegation battle beneath them.

They now sit eight points ahead on Stafford Rangers, who occupy the first of the four drop places.

Published Monday January 14, 2002