‘Mitigating circumstances for a tired display’ – Hawks assistant boss Baird reflects on shock home National League South loss to Bath City

But the assistant manager admitted there were ‘mitigating circumstances’ as he assessed a 3-1 National League South loss to lowly Bath City.

Playing their 12th league and cup game in a 50-day period, the surprise setback looked a game too far for an injury-hit squad.

Hawks only showed some real urgency in brief spells - following their first half equaliser and in the closing stages when the damage had been done.

Bath were also given a helping hand by poor home defending - two of their goals coming from set-pieces.

Jack Batten opened the scoring with a header from a free-kick and Alex Fletcher sealed victory near the hour mark from a short corner move.

Tommy Wright headed a close range leveller on 36 minutes - his fifth NL South goal of the campaign - but Cody Cooke restored Bath’s lead just before half-time.

‘It’s very, very disappointing to lose. The first was a poor goal to concede

‘We got ourselves right back in the game and I thought we would go on and win.

‘But once again we conceded a poor goal - that’s the story of our season.

Hawks went into the game without the injured Ross Worner, Sam Magri, Manny Adebowale, Scott Rendell and Alex Wall. Worner has not played since October 16, Wall October 20, Adebowale October 26, Magri November 6 and Rendell November 9. Magri won’t play again this season.

In addition, Paul Rooney was serving a one-game suspension against Bath and full back Michael Green has retired from playing. The phrase ‘it never rains but it pours’ appears made for Doswell in recent weeks.

Player-coach Jamie Collins, 37, had thankfully recovered from the injury that had kept him out of the previous four games and partnered skipper Joe Oastler. Had Collins not been fit, midfielder Jake McCarthy would have had to play as a centre half.

The last thing Hawks needed, therefore, was another injury. But that’s exactly what they got - ‘it never rains etc’ - when right wing-back Josh Passley suffered concussion after being clattered by Cooke in only the second minute.

After lengthy treatment, Passley was taken off to be replaced by Benny Read, whose only previous competitive football this season, due to a shoulder op and a hamstring injury, was three minutes as a sub at Braintree a fortnight earlier.

Read was one of just three outfield subs on the Hawks bench, alongside Theo Widdrington - yet to play a minute for Hawks in 2021/22 - and loanee Leon Parillon-Chambers, fit again after missing the midweek draw with Dulwich Hamlet due to tendonitis. Nicky Bailey was named as a sub on the team sheet but was absent sick.

‘There are mitigating circumstances,’ Baird continued, and any sensible-thinking Hawks supporter would surely agree with him.

‘We’ve been playing with a squad of 14 for several weeks and that looked a tired performance. We’ve been playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Wednesday.

‘You can’t concede the sort of goals we did and hope to win.

‘You need legs and you need energy and we didn’t have that in our locker today.

‘Overall, it was a poor day at the office for us, a very frustrating day.

‘Bath had lost six of their previous eight games and we expected to win.

‘As I said, there are mitigating circumstances but no excuses - the manner of the goals we conceded, two from set-pieces, was not good enough by our standards.

‘We said at half-time that if we moved the ball quicker we would get chances, but the third goal gave them a massive leg-up and we weren’t good enough to break them down again.’

Going into the game, Hawks boasted the third best defensive record in the NL South. Even now, with 18 goals conceded in 15 games, they have the fourth best.

But, as Baird highlighted, defensive woes have been the ‘story of our season.’

Away from Westleigh Park, Hawks have the joint best points record - 16, the same as leaders Dartford. They are averaging two points a game on their travels, title-winning form for sure. It’s at home, however, where the main problems have occurred.

Remarkably, for a club with ambitions of finishing in the play-offs as a minimum achievement, Hawks have now shipped two or more goals in five of their seven home league matches.

They have made a succession of games very hard for themselves, even before injuries and suspensions can be factored in as ‘mitigating circumstances’.

Even when the likes of Worner, Magri and Adebowale were fit, Hawks still conceded two first half goals in home losses to Oxford City and Slough. They did the same against Dulwich last Wednesday and did it again against Bath. This is a recurring, and concerning, theme.

Bath arrived at Westleigh Park having not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 12 games. It was no shock, therefore, to see Hawks score. At the other end, though, the Romans had only netted once in their previous four away league and FA Cup games - and that was a penalty in a 4-1 loss at Dorking Wanderers.

Hawks are the third lowest scorers among the top 13 clubs in their division, but as already mentioned have the fourth best defensive record. Yet Doswell, Baird and player coach Collins will be more alarmed with the defensive form, and so they should be.

In the build up to Bath’s visit, Doswell had likened an incredibly congested promotion race with a game of Snakes and Ladders. Win a game and you could jump up a few places, lose one and down you could slither.

Ironically, given that comment, Hawks stayed in sixth position despite their third home defeat of the campaign (only four clubs in the division have picked up fewer home points than their eight in seven games).

Before Saturday’s round of fixtures, only seven points separated the top 11 clubs. Now 10 points separate the top 14 (it’s a 16-point difference in the NL North table, for comparison purposes). Though Hawks could have gone fourth by beating Bath, they are only three points ahead of pre-season title favourites Dorking Wanderers down in 13th place. It is that tight.

Hawks have one more league game before visiting Dorking on Boxing Day, a trip to Eastbourne Borough next weekend. That won’t be easy either - no game in this league is - as a run of three wins in four games has catapulted the Sussex club up to 10th place, just two points behind Hawks.

Before that, Rendell could make his return in Tuesday’s Hampshire Senior Cup tie at Eastleigh.