Match Report: Yeovil Town 1 Chippenham Town 3

A second half horror show saw Yeovil Town fall to their second home defeat in succession (and this season) as Chippenham Town stunned Huish Park on Tuesday night.

The Glovers had bossed the first half and taken the lead when Alex Fisher headed home Olly Thomas’ cross with five minutes of the half remaining, but things began to unravel when visiting defender Aaron Amadi-Holloway levelled from a corner on 58 minutes.

After that, Yeovil did not offer a great deal going forwards and were punished as the visitors’ Matt McClure and Craig Fasanmade hit them with two goals in three minutes to snatch the three points for Chippenham, leading to boos from inside Huish Park at the final whistle.

The only saving grace was that second-placed Chelmsford City went down 2-0 away at Maidstone United, meaning the nine-point lead at the top of the National League South remains, but that was scant consolation for Yeovil.

First half

The opening exchanges saw Yeovil dominate possession, but the first chance of the game fell to the visitors. There were a couple of occasions where the ball was given away cheaply in midfield and Ed Williams laid it to Luke Spokes whose effort whistled just past the post.

The visitors’ bright start continued when a well-worked corner saw Williams have a shot well saved by the feet of Joe Day in Yeovil goal, before Jake Wannell cleared a follow-up effort off the line. From the clearance, Olly Thomas broke away down the left and fed the ball in to Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and then Alex Fisher, but the striker was beaten by the offside flag.

As is often the case, the visitors came in with a game plan to play a defensive style and wait for Yeovil to make a mistake and, when the Glovers have, they have created chances. You could hear the frustration coming from the Huish Park stands, even though they were watching their side largely dominate the game despite having blue shirts around them all the time they did.

Despite losing the possession game, it was Chippenham who had the game’s next chance after 22 minutes. Tyreke Johnson’s ball in from the was in towards Tom Owen-Evans who could not get anything on it, but if he had Day would have been in trouble.

At at the other end, a ball in from the Yeovil left from Alex Whittle saw Fisher flash a header across the face of goal and, with 30 minutes gone, Lo-Everton drove forward and fired in an effort which forced a fine stop from Will Henry in the Chippenham goal. That led to a flurry of corners which lifted the home crowd – a little.

With 33 minutes, Charlie Cooper went down in the middle of the park and, after a lengthy period of treatment, he was forced off and replaced by Josh Owers.

Then, with five minutes of normal time remaining, Yeovil took the lead. Good pressure started by an excellent reverse pass by Jordan Young ended up at the feet of Thomas down the right and his superb cross found the head of Alex FISHER who rose like…..well, a fish, to put a superb header in to the net.

Having come through a tricky first half-an-hour, Yeovil began to find their rhythm and took their chance which their opponents did not. That’s football, folks.

Half time: Yeovil Town 1 Chippenham Town 0

Second half

The first meaningful of the effort came after 48 minutes when Young stole the ball off his former team and fed Pearson, the striker bore down on goal but tried to curl it in without much power behind it and the ball went behind for a corner goal.

Following that chance, Chippenham enjoyed a sustained spell of possession as they looked to find a breakthrough and it came on 58 minutes when they drew level. A corner from the left was met by a towering header from defender Aaron AMADI-HOLLOWAY at the back post.

On 62 minutes, Thomas was replaced by Jordan Stevens and the substitute combined nicely with Young on the right side to set the former Chippenham man away to break in to the box and fire in an effort which Henry did well to parry away.

Morgan Williams pulled an effort from a Young corner wide soon after before Frank Nouble replaced Pearson with 72 minutes gone.

Everything which Yeovil were doing coming forwards seemed to be coming down the right side with Young in the thick of it. But, it was the first chance created by Chippenham that led to them taking the lead.

Soft defending from the home side substitute Matt McCLURE find space inside the box to fire an easy chance with 83 minutes gone. Too much space given by the Glovers’ defence and, even more concerningly, the body language which followed showed that goal had rocked the hosts.

If you thought that was bad, it got worse three minutes later as the visitors took the lead. Craig FASANMADE was the latest player to find space inside the box and he hammered a close range effort past Day. Two quickfire goals and there are people leaving Huish Park.

The only positive we can find from tonight was that second-placed Chelmsford City fell to a 2-0 defeat at Maidstone United. That means the nine point advantage at the top of the table remains, but a poor, poor second half display from Yeovil.

Full time: Yeovil Town 1 Chippenham Town 3

Match Details

Venue: Huish Park
Date: Tuesday 12th March

Competition: National League South

Pitch: Soft in places, but held up well
Conditions: A cool night with a gentle breeze

Attendance: 2,838 (59 away supporters)

Scorers: Alex Fisher 42 (1-0), Aaron Amadi-Holloway 58 (1-1), Matt McClure 83 (1-2), Craig Fasanmade 86 (1-3).

Bookings:

Yeovil Town: Matt Worthington 66, 
Chippenham Town: Luke Spokes 71, Tyreke Johnson 78, Matt McClure 90+6

Referee: Callum Fisk

Yeovil Town (4-2-3-1)

Substitutes: Josh Owers (for Charlie Cooper, 37), Jordan Stevens (for Olly Thomas, 62), Frank Nouble (for Sam Pearson, 72), Jay Foulston (not used), Dylan Morgan (not used).

Chippenham Town: Will Henry, Craig Fasanmade, Aaron Amadi-Holloway, Luke Haines, Tyreke Johnson, Tom Owen-Evans (for Caine Bradbury, 90+5), Tom Mehew (for Jack Evans, 75), Luke Spokes, Dan Ellison, Ed Williams (for Matt McClure, 67), Will King.
Substitutes (not used): Alex Bray, Nathaniel Williams.