City open new year with Bluebirds stalemate

The second part of this season’s A4 Derby saw City and Chippenham Town grind out a goalless draw at a damp Hardenhuish Park this afternoon. Playing down the considerable slope the home side enjoyed the better of the first half, with City no.1 Josh Gould twice called into action during the opening exchanges. These efforts proved to a be a rare sight of goal for the rest of the half, until a shot into the side-netting right on the half-time whistle briefly woke up the home supporters. City’s attacking threat had seen a couple of dangerous balls flash across the box but Bluebird’s keeper Henry was largely a spectator for the opening 45 minutes. As the rain began to sweep across the ground after the interval there was little improvement in the game, with Chippenham looking to win free-kicks at every opportunity around the City box but failing to take advantage when the referee took the bait. With nineteen minutes left City came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock as Dan Hayfield’s 20-yard effort was inadvertently diverted against the post by Henry’s shoulder. This turned out to be the closest either side would come to grabbing the win, although another free-kick in a dangerous position into stoppage time would have had City fearing a repeat of the late drama against Worthing three days ago, but they dealt with this final threat to ensure the points would be shared.