TUDOR TALK

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Saturday 10th November
Southern League Premier Division
Chippenham Town 1 Hemel Town 2

The Tudors used their “get out of jail free” card as they stole the points from a home side that had dominated proceedings all afternoon.
Hemel man of the match Ian Brown was brought into action just three minutes in, as he denied Luke Gullick with a flying save, to set the tone of the first half.
Chippenham’s superior pace completely unsettled a makeshift Hemel back four that was missing the suspended Nathan Bowden-Haase, but the teams cause wasn’t helped by some very poor tackling and passing that virtually handed possession to the home side.
Scott Lye missed a sitter on seven minutes, and Yiadom Yeboah took the ball off Gullick’s toes at the last moment just after, as the home side threatened to score a hatful.
But at the other end in what was the Tudors first effort on goal, Drew Roberts side-stepped the challenge of Kevin Halliday before thumping his shot from twenty yards against the foot of home keeper James Bittner’s left hand post.
Just before the half hour, Brown produced another superb reflex save to stop Lye’s header from Aaron Cornwall’s corner kick, and from the next ball into the box Sam Allison headed over at the far post when it was easier to hit the target.
Kicking up the Hardenhuish slope, Hemel’s only other chance of the half produced a good stop from Bittner to deny Steve Sinclair from close range, but Chippenham finally took a deserved lead on thirty seven minutes - albeit with a goal that should never have been allowed to stand.
Defender Simon Sweeney looked favourite to reach Mark Badman’s forward ball into the Hemel box, but Gullick forcefully tugged him back by his shirt, and while the defender waited for a whistle that never came from Plymouth referee Richard Greenwood, Gullick lobbed the ball over Brown and into the far corner of the net.
Roberts was booked in the ensuing dissensions, and with Hemel now “losing it” mentally, the half time break came just at the right time for Hemel - but not before both Ross Adams and Allison had once more spurned good openings to increase the Blues lead further.
Compared to the first half the second began at a rather more sedate pace. Bittner held onto Burgess’ weak shot five minutes in and Cornwall slid his shot across Brown’s far post shortly after. But the home side now looked for the most part content to be leisurely in their approach, and slowly Hemel began to create a few half chances for themselves.
Adam Martin and Paul Edgeworth slapped long range efforts off target, and Bittner dealt well with Josh Sozzo’s angled shot shortly after. Despite this, at the other end, Hemel were still living dangerously as Cornwall in particular carved out a couple of good chances for himself, and Allison again failed to hit the target from a free header.
Brown then saved well from Gullick again, and the number eleven also volleyed over the bar from Pratt’s cross as the Hemel defence retreated far too deep to intervene.
But as the last ten minutes approached the Hemel management decided to throw caution to the wind, and replaced Yeboah with winger Matt Gearing - moving to a 3-4-3 formation.
This unsettled the home defence, and on eighty seven minutes Gearing was hauled down by Ollie Price on the edge of the area, and Roberts stepped up to drive the free kick into the corner of the net through a home wall that seemed to disappear.
The goal caused some home fans behind the goal to “lose it” as Hemel’s small band of fans celebrated with their players heartily, and this wasn’t helped when Burgess then pounced onto Gearing’s stabbed through ball three minutes later, to smash the ball under Bittner for the points.
Inbetween goals, Sozzo also came close - jinking his way into the box before curling his shot across Bittner just inches wide of the far post.
Chippenham at that stage were still in the hunt however, and in injury time Lye chipped his shot wide of an open goal as Brown was caught out of position for once, and with the last kick of the match, Brown pulled off a superb save at his far post to deny Cornwall’s flying header, that had Hemel fans hearts in their mouths.
Last season in the corresponding fixture, Chippenham themselves stole a point when scoring twice in the last five minutes to snatch a 2-2 draw. So this time around the win felt sweet for the travelling Tudor faithful, and was made all the sweeter given the boorish behaviour of a very small band of idiots at the end, which angered even their own stunned supporters.
This win means that Hemel now move three points clear at the top of the table - albeit having played three games more than their nearest challengers - fans hoping that this result will kick start their season once more, following the recent slump in league form.

Hemel Town:
Ian Brown, Simon Sweeney, Mark Coulson, Adam Martin, Yiadom Yeboah (Matt Gearing), Robbie Kean (Dwain Williams), Ollie Burgess, Josh Sozzo, Steve Sinclair, Drew Roberts, Paul Edgeworth. Subs (Not Used|); Chris Dillon, Kameron Abbassi & Aaron Cavill.

Chippenham Town:
James Bittner, Ross Adams, Kevin Halliday, Kes Metiteri, Ollie Price, Sam Allison, Scott Lye, Mark Badman, Jake Reid (Dave Pratt), Aaron Cornwall, Luke Gullick. Subs (Not Used): Dale Peckham, Tom Etheridge, Iain Carr & Luke Hopper.