Chris Snoddy

Merthyr Tydfil 2, Chippenham Town 0

CHIPPENHAM Town could not make it two wins in two weeks over Merthyr Tydfil as they were sunk 2-0 at a wet and windy Penydarren Park on Good Friday.

An error from Chris Snoddy gifted Craig Stiens a goal just before the break and in the dying minutes substitute Mike Jones made sure of the win.

Chippenham had a fright on 15 minutes when Stiens headed beyond Snoddy early on, but the linesman's flag came to the Bluebirds' rescue.

Chippenham had their best chance of the day soon after when tidy team play resulted in Kevin Halliday swinging in a cross, and Scott Lye headed agonisingly against the upright.

Chances were at a minimum in the first half and the visitors nearly got lucky with half time approaching, when Darren Davies nearly headed into his own net, but Ashley Morris was alert to parry away.

Matthew Harris nodded over the crossbar shortly after as a goal-less half time scoreline looked likely.

But with seconds to go until the interval, Chris Snoddy dropped an innocuous effort from Gareth Warton and Stiens drove home the loose ball.

Hopes of a Chippenham revival were improved after the break when Sean Seavill skewed across Morris.

Substitute Luke Gullick nearly made an immediate impact when one-on-one with the Merthyr stopper but rushed his shot wide of the target.

Stiens continued to give the Bluebirds grief in the second period and his low drive was stopped by Snoddy mid-way through the half.

The Merthyr frontman had a glorious chance to double the lead on 78 minutes when one-on-one with Snoddy, but his shot went the wrong side of the post.

There was no shortage of effort from Adie Mings' men as they desperately went looking for an equaliser, but Merthyr were resolute at the back.

With minutes left Jones made the points safe when he turned in a free kick from Davies from close range.

When asked what he thought went wrong, manager Adie Mings said: "It was a combination of different things.

"I think the weather played a big part and we missed chances at vital times.

"They had 11 players who were right at it and we had six or seven.

"When you have two or three players who aren't functioning it makes it difficult."

3:46pm Thursday 27th March 2008

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