Christmas starts early for City as Bluebirds well and truly plucked

City started the footballing festive period in perfect style as they swept local rivals Chippenham Town aside by three goals to nil at Hardenhuish Park this afternoon. A Tom Smith brace plus a penalty from Jack Compton separated the sides but the Bluebirds could have had little complaint if City had doubled that score. Playing down the considerable slope it took City just 11 minutes to open the scoring, Smith latching onto Nat Jarvis’ flick, easily holding off several challenges before slipping the ball back across Thompson into the goal. The home side’s direct, physical approach – plus getting in the referee’s face at every opportunity – was a direct contrast to City’s more measured tactics, and it was the latter that paid further dividends on the half-hour mark when Jarvis’ run into the box was ended by a clumsy challenge by ex-City player Horgan. After a considerable delay while Town disputed the decision Compton stepped up to find the net via Thompson’s fingertips. City continued to control the game after the break, Smith blasted over when well-placed and Thompson saving Compton’s low shot with his feet. Compton also had two further sights of goal and Jarvis hit a post after Smith’s effort had been blocked on the line, before City’s dominance, was rewarded when a swift break saw Smith bear down on goal and drive a left-footed shot home. With the clash over as a contest Chippenham enjoyed most of the possession in the game’s closing stages but couldn’t even find a consolation goal to give their supporters something to cheer before the referee brought the one-sided match to an end.

Listen to Jerry Gill’s post-match comments here and Jack Batten’s here