Bath City (2) 2 Chippenham Town (0) 0 – Saturday 12 September 2026
Southern League Premier South – Cannon Clarke Stadium @ Twerton Park
Match Report by Mark Stillman.
Donovan and Scott Wilson were on target as Bath City eased past Chippenham Town in the A4 Derby.
In a week which saw the sale of the Football Club to the new owners completed, the City fans were given a further treat as they ended their three-game losing streak comfortably against their Wiltshire rivals.
A woeful Chippenham side seldom looked likely to extend a three-match unbeaten run as the Romans controlled the game from start to finish.
Only Jack Witchard’s interventions in the away goal kept the scoreline respectable.
Joel Odei-Larbi’s speculative effort flew over after 90 seconds for the visitors with Ollie Chamberlain following suit a minute later.
Witchard was first called into action on 10 minutes through Donovan Wilson’s snap shot after Joe Raynes slid the ball into his path in the penalty area.
Wilson wasn’t to be denied a second time as he opened his account for the season, in his first outing since the opening day.
Goalkeeper Harvey Wiles-Richards claimed the assist as his long ball from the back saw Alex Kieh make a mess of trying to head away under pressure from Wilson.
The striker shrugged him off with ease, nudged the ball around Witchard and rolled in from six yards to cap the ideal return from injury.
Harrison Minturn’s much-needed block denied Felix Miles’ goalbound strike before a magnificent save from Witchard prevented a second at the other end.
Wilson and Harry Parsons worked a one-two with the latter’s thunderous strike from 25 yards looking destined for the top left corner, only for the keeper to react superbly to tip away for a corner.
A well-worked goal made it 2-0 just past the half hour.
Jordan Tillson’s crossfield ball was well controlled by Raynes, on his 250th league start, who worked his way out of a tight spot with Pedro Elawar down the right.
Raynes evaded Miles with ease to the byline and drilled in to Scott Wilson, who couldn’t miss from two yards out.
It was his sixth goal in the A4 Derby and completed an unusual stat of cousins scoring, with assists from separate cousins.
Witchard spread himself to deny Elawar after Parsons slipped him through before visiting captain Ben Richards-Everton somehow escaped a booking for flying through the back of Elawar in frustration.
Wiles-Richards was finally tested within three minutes of the restart when Olaf Koszela tried to catch him out at his near post after Piotr Pereynski’s initial ball in, with the keeper carrying the ball behind for a corner.
Witchard again came to Chippenham’s rescue to bat away Elawar’s low drive following Seweryn Streczen’s lay-off.
An excellent team move on the edge of the visitors’ box saw substitutes Alex Fisher, Matt Bowman and Enzio Boldewijn involved, the latter teeing up Chamberlain who shot too close to Witchard from 20 yards.
Fisher couldn’t quite sort his feet out as he attempted to round the grounded Witchard and Streczen misplaced wide as the dominance continued up the slope with Chippenham showing little sign of a miraculous recovery.
The fight from the visitors fizzled out as the derby unusually concluded without a caution, sealing a routine win to turn frowns from recent performances upside down.
It kicked off the new era in style ahead of a 10-day break from league action before Scott Bartlett’s men have a scheduled midweek trip to Taunton Town.
Att:1699
City’s Line-Up: Wiles-Richards, Raynes (c), Tomlinson, S Wilson (Fisher 66), Elawar, Chamberlain, Minturn, Tillson (Streczen 72), Parsons (Bowman 77), Wood, D Wilson (Boldewijn 66). Sub not used: Greenslade.
Scorers: City – D Wilson (21), S Wilson (31); Chippenham – none
City Bookings: none
Officials: O Moreton, K Rodd, B Meakin