Jon Harland
Hampton & Richmond suffered their heaviest defeat of the season as Bath City ran riot in a 5-0 victory at Beveree Stadium.
Goals from Kieran Parselle, Jack Batten, Jordan Tillson, and a brace from Brad Ash ensured the Beavers’ dissapointing run of form continued, slipping to 18th in the National League South.
The Romans remain 16th, and were the league’s lowest scorers going into the contest, but took their chances where the hosts failed to.
Despite a bright start from the Beavers, who won a corner in the opening minute, it was the visitors who scored the opener after three minutes.
Birthday boy Ash was gifted the goal after closing down Max Merrick, whose clearance hit the City forward and bounced into the net.
Beavers responded positively, as Diamond Edwards displayed sparkling footwork to find a yard of space in the box, but his shot flashed just wide of the post.
Mauro Vilhete latched onto a loose back pass from Jordan Alves minutes later and burst through on goal, although his subsequent attempt sailed over the bar from a tight angle.
Hampton & Richmond were comfortable in possession, but the Romans looked dangerous on the counter and through balls in behind the Beavers’ backline.
After half an hour, Archy Taylor found Vilhete in space in the box, who lashed at his effort, missing both the target and a teammate.
Bath doubled their lead six minutes later as centre-back Parselle nodded Ewan Clark’s low, whipped cross past Merrick.
The Beavers continued to carve out chances, with Vilhete and Edwards causing problems for Bath, but the end product was lacking for Alan Julian’s side.
Alfie Williams forced a smart save from Harvey Wiles-Richards before half time after beating his man in the box with a superb first touch.
Action was scarce after the interval, until Ash brought the ball under his spell in the 67th minute and poked home to score his second of the afternoon and his side’s third.
Ash unleashed a powerful strike two minutes later, but was denied a hat-trick thanks to an athletic save from Merrick.
Hampton & Richmond created another opening, this time through Vilhete, finding Harry Gardner in a promising position, whose shot was blocked by a Bath defender.
The Romans punished the Beavers’ profligacy in front of goal by scoring a fourth through a Batten header from a corner in the 79th minute.
Tillson piled on the misery with four minutes left to play, scoring a pearler from 25 yards into the top right corner to make it five goals to the good.
The scoreline didn’t necessarily reflect the Beavers’ performance, who battled valiantly - especially in the first half - but looked unconvincing in the final third, while Bath were ruthless in front of goal.
Hampton & Richmond are back in action at the Bev next Saturday, where they have the opportunity to finally get back to winning ways against Welling United. Tickets for the match can be purchased HERE.