Dads Army, part two

The first time I went into the clubhouse bar, Charlie's, I felt pretty intimidated. I don't drink, so anytime I'm in a bar ordering a coke I always feel slightly silly. It is sort of like hanging out in a steakhouse and asking for a veggieburger. Charlie's is also a very, very male environment that harks back to an era from before my arrival in the UK. There is a giant telly on the wall with Sky Sports News flashing its stats, and one of those pre-Thatcher carpets that will never show a stain no matter how bad the behaviour gets. When we walked in it was full of groups of men getting a prematch buzz going, so we siddled up to one end of the bar and did the same (except I had a Coke).

Whenever you bring someone new to a Bath City match you cannot help but feel insecure about what their reaction is going to be. When someone is used to the sanitised world of Premiership matches on the telly you wonder if Twerton Park is just a bit too gritty and earthy. As a result from the point of that pint until the second half I kept asking everyone what they thought, half expecting for them to laugh and say, 'This is so crap!'

But they didn't! After the pint I gathered everyone on the terraces on the 'popular side' of the ground and I talked through the various players and they all seemed interested. They asked questions and looked thoughtfully at the players as if they were sizing them up. I was feeling hopeful.

As the match started it was immediately obvious that the Bath City players had shown up to win. I don't know if it was as a result of the close loss at the Chelmsford match, or if manager Addie Britton had put something in their milk, but whatever it was there was an immediately noticeable and impressive collective will among the players to pummel Maidenhead United until they begged for mercy. It was thrilling to watch, and even though the quality of play was not of a Premiership standard, watching any team at any level wanting to win that badly is bound to be entertaining.

City's main worry so far this season has been the lack of fire power up front. This was an issue in the Maidenhead game, because although City dominated possession and made some great plays in mid-field, getting a playable ball into the penalty box eluded them for most of the first half. Controlling the ball was very important, though, because it kept City's loanee keeper, Will Puddy, from having to do much on the night. His lapse at Chelmsford where he let in four goals in fifteen minutes is the second biggest worry at City at the moment. I was finding it frustrating that City could not convert its possession into goals, but I was heartened when one of the dads said, 'It is clear we are the better team. I'm sure we will get a goal soon.' We? We!

Despite my fears everyone seemed to be having a genuinely good night out. The father who had been very upfront about not really liking football even said, 'I wonder if I should call my wife and tell her I'm having a good time at a football match. She might not believe me.' At halftime I asked another what he thought so far. I meant, what did he think of the experience of a non-league match, but he said, 'I think we'll get a goal soon and then hopefully that will relax them and a few more will follow.'

Another benefit of a night at Twerton became apparent during the halftime break. I went and got a cup of tea, but about half the guys went round to the snack bar for burgers and chips. No one asked, 'What did you have for lunch, then?' or 'Are you sure you need that much salt on those?' I'll say no more.

In the second half City kept hammering away at the Maidenhead defence. This time they let the Magpies get out of their half a few times, but despite this at 65 minutes Darren Edwards finally got the goal everyone had been waiting for. There was a tangible sense of relief in the stands.

Bizarrely, despite only having a one goal lead and having thrashed Maidenhead up to now, the City players changed to a defensive formation and began to play back. A sense of nervousness was evident to everyone and Will Putty almost lost his clean sheet in the closing minutes when a ball just overshot the far post. After six nerve-wracking minutes of injury time the whistle blew and I starting jumping up and down in triumph.

The players jumped up and down too. Matt Coupe and Chirs Holland began pumping the air in triumph. There was a group hug of players on the pitch. It was only a regular league match, but the reaction was more like getting into the first round of the FA Cup. City really had wanted to win. I hope that wherever this new attitude comes from they can keep it up for the rest of the season.

The dads were also in a buoyant mood. It had been a beautiful evening spent outdoors watching a very entertaining match with friends. What could be better? Everyone, to a man, said they wanted to come back. We agreed to keep in touch and do it again. The Eastleigh match on September 8th is looking good.