Swindon 3rds 0 – 10 Chippenham A

My apologies in advance for any inaccuracies in this match report, but as you can probably tell by the final score, I was rather busy in the net!

The 3rds travelled to Chippenham for a game which we all knew was going to be incredibly tough given the face that we were missing many key players which included to very skilled defenders James Newman, Dodi Azmi and Deep, and skilled midfielder Callum Bird. Spirits and concentration took a further knock when the team found out that there was an error in the pushback time, meaning that including the post match meet time we were over two hours early!

Both teams started positively and were both switched on from the first whistle...then the floodgates opened a few minutes later. The first goal came from a rather nasty looping deflection just out of Tom Kerslake’s reach and going as far to the top right corner as you could get. One of the perks of being the world’s smallest goalie...

A barrage of shots followed straight off of the restart, highlights including an absolute rocket of a strike from the top of the D nearly snapping the crossbar in half and some very good reaction saves in by Tom Kerslake with a decent stop with the stick side glove, and a diving save to his right on a short corner, getting a tiny bit of stick to the ball to deflect it onto the post and away. But it wasn’t enough and Chippenham scored soon again.

Just after the 10 minute mark, matters got worse for Swindon after losing sweeper Dec Cullen to the usual hamstring injury. Now temporarily down to 10 men and with Alex Hynes dropping back to re-build the second brand new combination of back four of the game, the team struggled to contain the escalating Chippenham onslaught. Shots continued to fly in, the end of the first half finished with Tome Kerslake pulling off four saves in a row but couldn’t quite pull off the fifth in a row, with the host finishing the half 6 – 0 up.

Again, another encouraging team talk from Alex Hynes lifted the dire mood. He also encouraged the younger members of the team to just go for it and run at the skilled Chippenham team and showcase the talent we have on our side. Injured Dec moved to a striking position to stay out of the way with his reoccurring injury with Thomas Roblin sweeping for the first time and completing the third brand new combination of back four of the game.

The second half whistle went and the Swindon effort from the off was remarkable. Communication from the backs improved and the team kept the home side at bay for longer spells of the game, but it wasn’t enough in the end. When on the ball, Chippenham swarmed the Swindon D in numbers and continued to pepper the goal with shots, eventually putting in a further three goals.

The Chippenham side were also awarded a ridiculous amount of short corners. Most of them were drag flicked from the top and there seemed to be no hurry for anybody to put their beautiful bodies on the line to block the shots. Consequently all attempts were put on goal but were relatively easy to deal with as they were straight at the keeper. Not all saves were made by Tom Kerslake though; credit has to be given to Thomas Roblin for pulling off and incredible goal line block with his stick on the line on one of the short corners.

Injury again decided to play a part in the game with Alex McDonald having to go off towards the end of the game with an ankle injury, allowing for more space for the opposition to move the ball and score their final goal.

Many lessons can be taken from this game for the 3rds. In games such as this one, when we have the ball we press hard but we need to get back goal side and shadow. We also need to communicate, encourage each other, keep our heads up and maintain a positive state of mind. This was done so much better in the second half of the game and we performed better as a result! Next week we will be having a visit from City of Bath A, who lost to Chippenham A by just 1 - 0, so the listed qualities are going to be vital next week as it is going to be a tough one again. But let’s not forget we have won three out of four games which is outstanding and we will continue to hunt for those point other teams didn’t expect us to get!