MATCH PREVIEW: Cheshunt vs Chippenham Town | National League South, Tue 8th Nov 2022
Matt Chappell previews our upcoming National League South against Cheshunt
The #Bluebirds turn their attention back to league action after one of the biggest weekend’s in the club’s history (we will get more onto that very soon) when we make the trip to Theobalds Lane to face Cheshunt in Match Day 18 of the 2022/23 National League South.
So, where do we start. Chippenham will be coming into this game off the back of one of the biggest FA Cup upsets in recent memory, when they defeated EFL League 1 side Lincoln City 1-0 at a packed out #TheTSStadium with 2,175 in attendance to witness the Bluebirds make it into the Emirates FA Cup 2nd Round Proper for the 1st time in the clubs’ 149 years of history, which is a remarkable for everyone associated with the town.
Chippenham sealed their progression to face Burton Albion away in the 2nd Round Proper, via a 44th minute goal from Joe Hanks, who in space slotted home a sensational backheel to send Gary Horgan’s squad into the next round of the most prestigious cup competition to exist. Hanks’ backheel goal has been widely compared to a certain goal scored by Alessia Russo during the Euro 2022 Semi-final against Sweden. There’s been plenty of buzz on Social Media with the goal being widely visible on BBC Sport and also the Emirates FA Cup Social’s with the goal gaining over 100k views and Highlights available on our YouTube channel along with BBC’s gaining over 14k views at the time of writing.
Lincoln provided plenty of opportunities in the 2nd half to try and get a goal back proved not enough as Chippenham performed very well to counter attacks on goal, and plenty of crosses into the box. A ball was fired into the back of the net by Max Saunders after two successive corners for the visitors but a foul on Will Richards in the box prior, caused it to be dis-allowed by the referee, much to the relief of the Chippenham fans behind the goal at the Lit Fibre Community Stand and around the Sports Club end.
Saturday’s game will go down in history as one of the biggest game’s in the clubs history, and on behalf of everyone at Chippenham Town, we would like to thank you all for your support on Saturday, we hope you enjoyed the game, and we hope to see you join us on the road for the 2nd Round clash against Burton Albion, we will be hopeful to confirm more details regarding this game when made available, check our Website/Social Media for more when it’s made available.
Back to league action, Chippenham come into this game off the back of three successive defeats against Concord Rangers, Hemel Hempstead and Tonbridge Angels respectively to put the Bluebirds 20th in the league table at the time of writing. Gary’s side will be looking to a win to send them back to mid-table and restart their climb back up the National League South table. Chippenham may be hopeful of a few players returning from injury with Jordan Young and Craig Fasanmade both featuring on the bench for the Lincoln game, Aaron Simpson coming on for a brief period on Saturday, after returning from injury, and Will King hopefully being prepared for a return in a few weeks.
Our hosts Cheshunt, currently find themselves 23rd in the National League South table with three wins so far this season, they were beaten 3-0 by Eastbourne Borough on Saturday, and most recently were just short of a thrilling encounter with Havant & Waterlooville, narrowly missing on a 3-2 defeat. Manager Craig Edwards has been in-charge of the Ambers since January 2018, guiding them from the bottom of the Isthmian North Division One, to their promotion to the NLS last season.
It will be the first meeting between these two sides in the National League South, but both sides have faced each other back in the Southern League Premier Division days with Chippenham taking victories back in the 2007/08 season with a 5-1 win at home and a 4-1 victory away before our hosts were relegated that season at bottom of the table.
It promises to be a big clash between the two sides in their first clash in 14 years, and we hope to see you all join us on the road to Theobalds Lane tonight, if you’re planning to attend then Ticket information can be found here, or if you’re unable to attend then we will be providing Official Radio Match Commentary via our Mixlr account with Simon Lawrence and Aarron Pullen bringing you all the latest.
COME ON YOU BLUEBIRDS!
