Points shared in damp A4 Derby Part II

The second part of this season’s A4 Derby between City and Chippenham Town ended goalless this afternoon at a wet Twerton Park. The visitors started and ended the game brightly but the encounter won’t live long in the memory of the record crowd for the fixture of just under 2500.

As with the first fixture in Wiltshire on Boxing Day the Bluebirds looked to build from the back but this time getting the ball forward much quicker which saw them pose more of an attacking threat. An early scramble in the City box was curtailed by an offside flag before Williams shot straight at Will Buse. Both sides had penalty shouts after this, City’s after Scott Wilson was tripped in the box by Ellison. McClure then saw a shot strike the outside of the post before two more Chippenham penalty appeals were waved away by the referee. City began to see more of the ball after this but couldn’t fashion more than a handful of half-chances as the game reached the interval goalless.

The second half began with City on top as, on 56 minutes, Cody Cooke got behind the visitor’s backline but saw his well-struck shot turned away by Henry. Eight minutes later substitute Ewan Clark cut in from the right to send a cross-shot toward the far post that Wilson could only head over the bar from close range. In-between former Roman Luke Spokes had tested Buse with a long range effort and as the game reached its closing stages Chippenham began to look threatening again going forward. However, with the conditions worsening they failed to really trouble Buse again and, for the second successive New Year’s Day, the sides had to settle for a share of the points.