MATCH PREVIEW: Chippenham Town vs Hampton & Richmond Borough | National League South | Monday 10th April 2023

Matt Chappell previews our home game against Hampton & Richmond Borough.

The Bluebirds look to put yesterday’s defeat behind them and turn their attention towards Easter Monday with Hampton & Richmond Borough the visitors to The Thornbury Surfacing Stadium as we approach the end of the season with just 4 games to go.

Last Time Out

Chippenham’s remarkable 15 game unbeaten streak came to an end yesterday, as Gary Horgan’s side were on the end of a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Slough Town at a packed out Arbour Park with 845 in attendance. A dominant performance from the Rebels ended Chippenham’s unbeaten run with George Alexander netting 4 goals (2 per half). Alex Bray got a goal back in the 2nd half on 75 minutes following a cross from Ed Williams, which gave Chippenham an opportunity for a potential comeback, but it wasn’t to be as Josh Jackman and Elliot Benyon both netting a goal each towards the end of the game sealed the fate and saw Chippenham concede their first league double of the season.

Despite the result, we can all be proud of this remarkable 15 game unbeaten run, which corresponded with 7 wins in 9 games and a league position of 14th place in the National League South at the time of writing, considering at the start of March Chippenham Town were at the foothold of the relegation zone, but this will be a March that many supporters will remember for many years to come.

The Opposition

The Beavers, as they are most known as currently sit just below Chippenham in 15th place in the National League South table at the time of writing and just 4 points behind the Bluebirds with a game in-hand, with a 2-0 victory against Hungerford Town on Good Friday with goals from Jake Gray and Ruaridh Donaldson to get them back to back wins following defeat to Farnborough a few weeks ago, they also enjoyed a winning streak with 4 games in a row won against Taunton, Cheshunt, Dover and Chelmsford respectively.

Hampton are currently managed by Mel Gwinnett, who was appointed at the start of January after guiding Barnet as an Assistant Manager along with Dean Brennan who’s very familiar to Chippenham, to an impressive start in the National League. The 59-year-old also has a track record at Stevenage as Assistant to Paul Tisdale back in 2018/19

In 9 meetings, Hampton have got the better of Chippenham with 5 wins and 3 draws, most recently winning 1-0 back in September 2022 with Tommy Block netting a penalty in the 25th minute on the road.

Ones to Watch

Ahead of Monday, we’ve picked out three players from the visiting side who will most certainly be ones to watch out for:

The first is, Alfie Whittingham, the 24-year-old has bagged 5 goals in 36 games for the Beavers and has played a total of 2544 minutes in midfield this season.

The second is Luiz Fernandez, the 21-year-old defender has also netted 5 goals in 19 games while playing 1222 minutes of football.

The third and finally, Tommy Wood. This is a name which may be familiar to Chippenham fans as the 24-year-old has had stints at Slough Town and Tonbridge Angels in the early stages of his career, so far this season, Tommy has played 28 games has scored 5 goals with 2168 minutes of football played.

Bluebirds News

Chippenham will be happy to see Matt McClure back playing following his recent injury problems yesterday, and we could see more with Craig Fasanmade, Joe Hanks and Caine Bradbury all getting back to fitness and looking to return to the starting line-up for Monday if all goes well of course.

There may be slight worries for Eddie Jones who seemed to be injured during yesterday’s warm-ups at Slough with Aaron Simpson taking his place. We may also see Will Richards also on the sidelines with a potential groin injury, as he’s a player who’s been crucial to the backline over the past few weeks. Will was not involved against Slough Town.

We hope to see as many of you as possible pack The Thornbury Surfacing Stadium for what promises to be another big game on Monday, don’t forget that 2023/24 season tickets will be available, click here for more information. Make sure you secure your tickets for what promises to be another exciting campaign for the mighty Chippenham Town next season. If you are planning to make the trip, then please see below for ticket information.

Be the 12th man, come on down and get behind Gary, Matt, Joe and the lads as we look to get back to winning ways.

COME ON CHIPPENHAM!

Ticket Information

Tickets can be purchased on the gate, priced at:

• £14 for adults
• £10 for concessions, including armed forces personnel along with students who have valid ID.
• £3 for under-18’s
• U16’s get FREE entry when accompanied by a paying adult.

Cash and contactless card payments are accepted at the gate.