By Richard Joyce

SHORTWOOD may have a few quid in the bank but joint-Shortwood manager Alex Sykes cut a frustrated figure as Conference South outfit Bath City comfortably moved into the FA Cup fourth qualifing round after a routine 3-1 replay victory.

The plucky Nailsworth side were just three minutes away from another famous victory on Saturday, but the the Twerton Park outfit upped the tempo at Meadowbank last night with first half strikes from Nick McCootie and  Ben Adelsbury put the Romans in pole position.

Andy Watkins added to the scoreline after the break, but Matt Bennett pulled a goal back in injury time as the Wood bowed out.

Sykes said: "They a strong side to play against. Over the course of two games if you are in Bath's dressing room you probably expect to beat us.

"I don't think we got a bit of false hope from Saturday but we certainly did well enough to get a result out of the game.

"We were a little bit naive tonight and maybe the gulf in class showed over the space of three days between the games and took it out our legs a bit.

"It was such a monumental effort on Saturday to get a 2-2 draw.

"We started a little bit sloppily and being one down early is always a bit difficult."

Sykes too some positives out of a spirited second half showing from his side.

He added: "I was pleased with the second half. It was nice to get a goal but we were just a little bit off it and to be fair, Bath showed their class.

"We've played against three teams from higher leagues and out of those opposition we have only lost one of those games.

"We've taken Bath City to a replay, we've taken Cirencester to a replay and then beaten them, and we've beaten Oxford City.

"In any other year you would take that.

"A lot of teams you find certainly in the FA Cup at our level have a run like we did and then dip out at the first port of call and sometimes lose to lower opposition.

"That is the nature of this competition and it is brilliant for that.

"But to be fair, it is another good run, it a few quid in the bank, and it's just disappointing thinking of the performance we put in on Saturday that we thought maybe we could have caused an upset tonight."