Taurean Manders and his Bashley teammates climbed off the bottom of the table for the first time since August with an impressive win over Chippenham.
Bashley made three changes, with Monty George coming into the side in goal and both Jamie Bulpitt and Warren Kenna returning in midfield. Bashley were straight onto the front foot with Chippenham keeper Ben John just beating Scott Joyce to Kenna's through ball, while at the other end Bryan Smith fizzed an effort just wide from long range.
On a cold night in the New Forest, Corey King was the first man into the book for scything down Sam Roberts. Skipper Jack Odam came close to testing John after latching onto a Kenna through ball only to see his effort well blocked. But Bash were ahead after eighteen minutes when Bulpitt won possession well before Joyce threaded the ball through to Odam, who held off the covering defender before going round John and calmly stroking the ball into the net.
The visitors bench were audibly unhappy with proceedings and their side almost fell two goals behind midway through the first half when Joyce escaped the Chippenham defense but cut back inside and fired just over the crossbar. Alan Griffin was always a handful up front for the Wiltshire side but they had a second man booked after James Guthrie fouled Bulpitt. King was hauled off ten minutes before the interval and initially this galvanized Chippenham into action. Following further bookings for Luke Hopper and Bulpitt, Griffin nodded home five minutes before the interval from Callum Wright's free kick, rising highest at the far post.
Guthrie was then spoken to again for a late challenge on Odam, with Wright becoming the fourth Bluebird into the book before the break for bringing down Kenna as he burst towards goal. In the first minute of added time at the end of the half Bash forced a corner, and when the ball broke on the edge of the area, Brad Strickland curled home a low left footed effort into the bottom corner to send the home side in at half time in a joyous mood and leave Chippenham morose.
Anyone who wanted to eavesdrop on the visitors' half time team talk would probably have heard some home truths being told, to judge from the way they came out after the break. Sub Joe McClennan was the first to test George within a minute of the restart, but the home side have adopted a more structured approach in recent weeks and soaked up lot of pressure, including a shot from Guthrie that was well blocked by George and turned home by sub Lee Phillips only for the flag to go up. Guthrie then charged down a clearance from George only to see his effort strike the outside of the post.
But Bashley hit back and Joyce wriggled free again only for John to block well with his legs. Griffin came close to an equalizer but Luke Ansell made an excellent clearance. Chippenham looked visibly frustrated and that was only exacerbated by Aaron Oakley lost possession to Manny Soetan and responded by tripping him in the area. Odam dispatched the spot kick coolly to give Bash some breathing space. The Bluebirds were clearly unhappy and McClennan was spoken to for dissent to the assistant referee shortly afterwards before a member of the Chippenham coaching team was sent to the stands after an altercation between the two benches.
Bash almost sealed the game when a driving run from the tireless Lewis Blackmore ended with a cross that was half blocked by John and came to Joyce, who struck the ball firmly towards goal only for Wright to be in position to head off the line. McClennan was then booked for an off the ball foul on Roberts, while Odam and Soetan combined to set up Joyce again, but the luckless striker was denied by an outstanding save from John.
|
