SOUTHERN LEAGUE

Chippenham Town 0, Mangotsfield United 0

THE 566 supporters who parted with their money on Saturday had every right to ask for it back after this dire local derby.

It was a wonder anyone stayed long enough to witness Chippenham's first strike on goal, which took 66 agonising minutes to materialise.

When it did finally come, Kye Holly ballooned a free-kick high over the crossbar.

Mangotsfield offered little more in attack. A Chris Lane strike which rebounded off the post was the closest they came to scoring.

The match will best be remembered for the chorus of boos which greeted the late substitution of Alan Griffin, and the ironic cheers when the striker was named man-of-the-match moments later.

Bluebirds boss Darren Perrin later admitted he would have to look at the reasons why his side created very little in front of goal.

And yet, as he rightly pointed out, had Dave Gilroy buried his one-on-one chance with nine minutes remaining the Hardenhuish faithful would have gone home happy.

Perrin said: "We've not created much but everyone would have backed Gilly to score that one.

"Kevin Halliday's also had a good shot which was well saved by their goalkeeper and Griff (Griffin) should have done better with his header."

All valid observations from the Chippenham chief, but when you can count the number of shots on goal on one hand it makes it much easier to remember.

Last week the Blues burst into life during extra-time when they smashed three past plucky Hillingdon Borough.

Whether an added 30 minutes on Saturday would have produced a goal is highly debatable.

Mangotsfield started the game at a brisk pace and former Chippenham target Robbie Claridge should have made more of his half-chance after five minutes.

Lewis Powell released the lively Aaron Cornwall on the left and his low cross was completely missed by an unmarked Claridge.

Half-hearted appeals for a Chippenham penalty were waved away by referee Steve Robbins after Dave Gilroy had tangled with Mangotsfield skipper Gary Warren in the penalty area.

At the other end Powell dragged his low shot wide of the upright under pressure from Ross Adams.

The half-time whistle offered both sides a chance to regroup, but it was the visitors who came out with a sense of purpose.

Former Bluebird Ellis Wilmot found team-mate Ollie Price with a free-kick, but his header dropped kindly for Chippenham goalkeeper Steve Perrin.

Mangotsfield had a penalty appeal of their own turned down when Cornwall collapsed under Alex Stanley's strong challenge.

Wilmot then picked up a booking for a lunge on Iain Harvey as the clock ticked towards the hour mark.

Lane offered Perrin a hint of what was to follow when the winger drifted inside and shot straight into the arms of the former Forest Green Rovers stopper.

Thirty second later the same player rattled the post after Stanley failed to clear on the edge of his own box. This stirred Chippenham into action and Holly's wayward free-kick was the first of three chances in ten minutes.

Alan Griffin saw his fierce shot tipped over by William Puddy and the Mangotsfield gloveman reacted well to block Halliday's low drive.

Griffin put Gilroy through on goal in the 81st minute, but Puddy was up the test as he parried the ball behind for a corner.

Boss Darren Perrin said he was pleased to extend Chippenham's unbeaten sequence to four matches.

He said: "Defensively I was delighted with the performance. We seem to have stopped conceding cheap goals now.

"This was a difficult game with no quarter given.

"We were losing these games three weeks ago, but now we have become much tougher."