Chippenham Town 1 - 4 Hungerford Town

The visiting side started brightly, and it was Elis Watts with an early chance slamming the ball into the side netting, the threat from the winger being a sign of things to come. Hungerford were really on top in the early exchanges forcing several corners. From one of these Corners a Chippenham defender looked to have punched the ball clear of Conor McDonagh’s head in a melee of players but no one on the pitch players or officials saw it.

On twenty minutes Hungerford had another penalty shout when Watts was bundled to the floor but the referee who did have a clear view waved away the protests. Hungerford were still pressing however Brad Hooper nearly found himself free in the box after a great run and Sean Moore blasted a free kick straight at Will Henry in Chippenham’s goal.

On the half hour mark the hosts had their first real chance when the ball fell to ex Crusader Craig Fasanmade but he could only shoot over Ryan Clarke’s goal. It was a crucial miss as just two minutes later Hungerford opened the scoring. Luke Carnell flicking a header on from a Nathan Davis long throw and the ball evaded all desperate attempts to clear to hit the back of the net. Just reward for Hungerford’s early endeavours. There were still a couple of half chances for Hungerford before the break the most notable of which was a shot from Hooper that was blocked by Bluebirds defender Luke Haines.

Hungerford were forced into a change at half time as top scorer McDonagh was forced off with a knock. Slavi Spasov was his replacement. Spasov had an almost immediate impact and only a great challenge from Amadi-Holloway prevented him opening the scoring from the kick off. Hungerford though were giving the hosts no time or space and five minutes into the half their high press forced a Bluebirds error. Keeper Henry rushed into a clearance and the ball fell to Watts 25 yards out with an open goal to float the ball into and double Hungerford’s lead.

Hungerford were totally on top now. A couple of minutes after the second goal Watts, causing havoc down the right, played in Rhys Tyler his cross picked out Spasov but he could only blaze over. There had to be some type of reaction from the hosts but their attempts were lacking any really quality. Medford-Smith and Tyler did put in a couple of blocks but Clarke was rarely troubled. On 75 minutes Spasov almost broke clean through he was dragged back by Haines who picked up a yellow card which on another day could have been a straight red.

With 10 minutes to go the hosts did get back into the game, a speculative effort from Caine Bradbury somehow beat Ryan Clarke to make it 1-2. Hungerford almost wobbled and a minute later Matt Berry-Hargreaves had to head the ball off the goal line to maintain Hungerford’s lead. This however was the height of Chippenham’s attempts to get back into the tie.

Spasov had a big penalty shout waved away after some physical defending from Chippenham. Then a sloppy Chippenham back pass went towards Henry who was slow to react and was beaten in the tackle to the ball by Sean Moore who then walked the ball into the empty net which queued some very relieved goal celebrations in front of the travelling supporters. In injury time the Crusaders made it 4 when after a brilliant run from Spasov he unselfishly found Watts who curled it past the hapless Henry. There was still time for Luke Haines to see a second yellow for a nasty frustrated challenge on Joe Shepherd. Hungerford more than deserved the win though a result Danny Robinson dedicated to the fans who will be looking forward to Monday’s draw.

Team : Clarke, Tyler (c), Medford-Smith, Carnell, Berry-Hargreaves, Alexander, Davis, Hooper (Shepherd), Watts, McDonagh (Spasov), Moore (Stanley). Subs Not Used: Angell, Sambu, Paget, Tarpey
Attendance: 380
Star Man: Elis Watts