Match Report: Clevedon Town 0 Chippenham Town 0

Clevedon Town 0 Chippenham Town 0

Clevedon Town welcomed local rivals Chippenham Town for a derby game that took place on a very wet and muddy pitch, which made it very difficult to play good football, and held the high-flyers to a goal-less draw to take their first ever BGB Southern Premier point from the Bluebirds.

Phil Bater restored Kyle Bassett and Mitchell Page to his starting line-up in place of Josh Brigham and Kris Leek, who was still carrying an injury. The pitch had been inspected twice and passed as fit to play on, but a torrential downpour just before kick-off meant that conditions were very difficult.

In the opening exchanges Chippenham were the stronger, forcing two corners, which the Seasiders defence dealt with well. Clevedon’s first chance came on 9 minutes when a long-range drive from Scott Hendy went wide. On 13 minutes Luke Gullick turned on the edge of the box and fired in a hard low shot which Danny Greaves got down well to turn round the post for a corner. Six minutes later an angled shot from Mitchell Page that skidded along the slippery surface was well saved by Chris Snoddy in the Chippenham goal.

Gullick then had another effort from distance saved by Greavsie. Mike Trought had a header from a Steve Cook free kick cleared, and Mitchell Page next went close when a Danny Haines cross just failed to reach him properly and his attempt stuck in the mud for Snoddy to clear. The ever-dangerous Gullick then hit a free kick narrowly wide, and shortly after put Aaron Cornwall through and Danny Greaves did well to block his shot. However the first half, in which the Bluebirds got the better of their hosts, ended goalless.

At the start of the second half Phil Bater replaced Kyle Bassett and Matt Prosser, who had taken a nasty knock before half time, with Kevin Davies and Christian Sylvester. On 48 minutes a Scott Hendy header from a free kick was cleared, and minutes later a cross from Seasiders old boy Ollie Price found Dale Peckham unmarked in the box, but his strong header was saved by a diving Danny Greaves. Clevedon then started to dominate, forcing several corners, and thought that they had taken the lead when a Steve Cook corner was met by a bullet header from Scott Hendy that was just headed off the line by Cornwall and adjudged by the assistant referee not to have actually crossed the line.

On 70 minutes Clevedon went close again when a long clearance by Greavsie was shielded by Mike Symons who passed the ball to Mitch Page who ran at the defence, riding a tackle from Price, only for Snoddy to dive bravely at his feet and smother the danger. On 78 minutes the Seasiders replaced Cook with Kris Leek, who added some fresh legs to the attack, but a foul on Symmo a few minutes later left the in-form striker limping. Legs were now getting very tired on the heavy surface, and not long after Gullick had another shot, which was deflected away for a corner, the referee brought the afternoon’s entertainment to and end with no goals having been scored.

In summary a draw was a fair result with each side dominating one half in a derby game that was strongly, but fairly, contested on a muddy surface, so that the referee was able to keep his cards in his pocket!

Gallery

Thumbnail panels:

Team Sheet

No:	Name:	Sub:
1	Greaves
2	Bassett
3	Bater
4	Page
5	Hendy
6	Trought
7	Scott (Capt)
8	Cook
9	Prosser
10	Symons
11	Haines
12	Leek	8
14	Davies	2
15	Sylvester	9
16	Brigham
17	-
Own Goal	-

Match Details

Date:	05/01/08
Competition:	British Gas Business Southern League Premier Division
Opponents:	Chippenham Town
Venue:	The Hand Stadium Davis Lane Clevedon North Somerset BS21 6TG
Half Time:	0 - 0
Full Time:	0 - 0
Attendance:	312
Match Report:	Dave Wright
Photographs:	Tony Merrett
Match Sponsor:	-
Match Ball Sponsor:	-
Notes:

Downloads

Appearances & Goal Scorers	Word Document
Team Sheet Matrix	Excel Document