12:30pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
By Dan Barnes
SAM Allison’s second-half goal earned the Bluebirds a point from a hotly-contested Wiltshire derby on Bank Holiday Monday.
Following Salisbury’s demotion from the Conference Premier, a season-highest crowd of 858 were at Hardenhuish Park to watch arguably the most eagerly-anticipated home fixtures of Chippenham’s season.
Despite the game beginning at a high tempo, neither side found chances easy to come by but it was Salisbury who opened the scoring on 38 minutes, when Ryan Brett’s free-kick was fumbled by Chippenham keeper Chris Snoddy, who was put under pressure by a number of orange shirts, allowing Matt Wright to sweep the visitors into the lead.
Chippenham rallied in the second period and on 56 minutes, the scores were level. Scott Lye flicked a ball towards Allison, who beat a Salisbury defender before unleashing a powerful shot that keeper Tommy Smith found too hot to handle, with the ball nestling in the corner of the net.
Mings’ men had a golden opportunity to steal all three points late on, when Luke Gullick won the ball back and played in substitute Shaun Benison, but the striker’s curling effort sailed over the bar, as the spoils were shared between the two Wiltshire rivals.
Bluebirds midfielder Scott Lye thinks that his side grew into the game.
“I thought we started okay but not as well as I wanted to and it was a lot better in the second half,” said the Chippenham vice-captain.
“At half time he (Adie) wasn’t too upset with how we played but he wanted to see a bit more tempo – which is how we know we can play.
“It was positive to see that we matched them and if we can do that, then hopefully we can do a bit better as a whole this year.
“We’re still unbeaten and hopefully we can start turning those draws into wins, especially at home. We’ll keep on working hard and it should pay off.”
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