Chippenham Town (0)0 Bath City (2)3

Bath City bounced back from their disappointing FA Trophy exit at Hendon last Saturday with a resounding victory over local rivals Chippenham Town at Hardenhuish Park. The visitors played with passion and tempo throughout the contest, and thoroughly deserved to bring all three points back across the county border to Somerset.

City commenced proceedings playing down the slope, but it was Chippenham who created the first opportunity. A cross from the right in the 5th minute was headed back across goal by Will Richards to Andy Sandell, who could only stab his shot straight at Luke Southwood.

The away side began to gain the upper hand, and Jack Compton unleashed a free kick from 25 yards on 9 minutes, but his effort was high and wide. However, his team took the lead two minutes later when a poorly directed pass by a Town defender was intercepted by Nat Jarvis, who released Tom Smith. The midfielder weaved his way past two challenges and, as he raced across the penalty area, expertly directed his shot into the far corner beyond advancing keeper Jared Thompson.

Chippenham were now on the back foot as City pressurised strongly in midfield and looked menacing every time they sprang forward on the break. Compton’s angled shot was deflected past the far post for a corner and then, on 17 minutes, his powerful volley from the edge of the box forced Thompson into an excellent diving save low down.

Sandell was impeded by Smith as he found space down the left flank, and the incident sparked a melee that resulted in bookings for City’s Smith and Compton, alongside Chippenham’s Dean Evans. Sandell was perhaps fortunate to escape any sanction whatsoever after appearing to manhandle an opponent and, once order had been restored, Greg Tindle headed over Southwood’s crossbar from the resulting free kick.

City continued to dominate the game, and their advantage was doubled in the 29th minute. The industrious Jarvis drove into the home box and went down under Gary Horgan’s challenge with referee, Mr. Paul Howard, having no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Prolonged protests from the hosts ensued during which Horgan’s name was entered in the notebook, but Compton kept his nerve to find the bottom right hand corner of the net despite Thompson getting a firm hand to the ball.

Chippenham came more into proceedings for the remainder of the half, but had only James Guthrie’s long range shot to show for their efforts, and this proved too high to trouble Southwood.

The second period began with the home side pressing forward, and attempting to put the City defence under pressure, but they still found clear cut chances elusive. Indeed, it was Bath who looked the more likely to add to the scoreline as they remained a threat each time they broke forward. Smith accelerated down the right flank on 50 minutes, but fired over the bar from the edge of the box, and then Compton raced goalwards from a similar position and, this time, Thompson saved well with his feet.

The Bluebirds, despite their territorial advantage, were still struggling to make any impression on the City rearguard, and Alex Ferguson’s header from a right wing free kick on the hour mark failed to trouble Southwood.

Compton’s fiercely struck angled drive flew across the face of Thompson’s goal, but City came desperately close to increasing their lead after 67 minutes. Smith burst into the box, only for his shot to be brilliantly blocked by Thompson, and the keeper was relieved to see Jarvis’ follow up effort strike the outside of the post.

This reprieve lasted only three minutes, as the game was finally put beyond the Wiltshire side’s reach on 70 minutes. Opie Edwards put Smith through on goal and, this time, the midfielder found the corner of the net with joyous aplomb.

To their credit, Town continued to push forward, and Kevin Amankwaah produced an outstanding blocking tackle to repel Richards’ goalbound shot but, despite their best endeavours, this was a close as they came to finding an element of consolation. George Rigg and Ryan Case replaced Compton and Smith respectively, and Jerry Gill’s men saw out the remainder of the game without undue alarm.

This was an excellent and commanding performance by City, and the final margin of victory could well have been greater. In truth, Chippenham struggled to find any foothold in the game and were largely toothless up front, but this should in no way detract from the manner in which the win was achieved. The team were afforded rapturous and well-deserved applause from the numerous and vociferous travelling supporters, who will now be hoping that their team can build on this success when they take on Weston-super-Mare at Twerton Park on Boxing Day.

Chippenham Town: Jared Thompson; Dan Bowman, Curtis McDonald, Greg Tindle, Will Richards, Alex Ferguson, Andy Sandell, James Guthrie, Darren Mullings (Robbie Patten 74), Dean Evans (Matt Smith 56), Gary Horgan (Josh Smile 56). Subs not used: Michael Jones, Jon Beeden.

Bath City: Luke Southwood; Miles Welch-Hayes, Jack Batten, Dan Ball, Kevin Amankwaah, Matt Richards, Frankie Artus, Opie Edwards, Tom Smith (Ryan Case 85), Jack Compton (George Rigg 81), Nat Jarvis. Subs not used: Oaklan Buck, Nick McCootie, Kieran Hodges.

Referee: Mr. Paul Howard

Att: 1,502

Top stuff, KK. Happy Christmas everyone.