Report – Wealdstone 1 – 0 Chippenham Town
Wealdstone
1 - 0
Chippenham TownWealdstone hold firm to secure first home win since January against Chippenham.
Stefan Brown’s first half finish was enough to secure all three points as the Bluebirds goal-drought continues.
The Stones almost took the lead inside three minutes when Freddie Grant’s lofted through ball found top scorer David Pratt but after composing himself on the edge of the box, Pratt could only blast over.
Danny Green’s corner found Grant who leaped high in the 10th minute but his header could not find the target.
Former Reading player Jake Sheppard almost broke the deadlock 10 minutes later when his edge-of-the-box finish was parried away by Bluebirds ‘keeper Brad House.
Crawley loanee Tarryn Allarakhia had his first shot of the afternoon on the 29th minute when he picked up a loose ball outside the area, but his strike missed the target.
The Stones finally broke the deadlock two minutes later when Stefan Brown fired a low left-footed drive which cannoned off the post into the net.
Sheppard almost double the home side’s advantage four minutes later when his audacious effort whacked the post.
Chippenham almost equalised five minutes before the break when Nick McCootie attempted a bicycle-kick in the box which was just off-target.
In additional time before the interval, Grant could not connect to Jerome Okimo’s flick-on from Green’s corner at the far-post.
Bobby Wilkinson’s men were able to take a 1-0 advantage into half-time, restricting Chippenham to minimal efforts in the first half.
Bluebirds defender Will Richards leaped highest from the first Chippenham corner of the second half in the 48th minute but headed wide of Jonathan North’s goal.
Chippenham top scorer Nat Jarvis almost broke the Bluebirds three-game goal-drought three minutes later when his volley went just past the post.
Brown’s flick-on set Allarakhia away on-goal a minute later but he did not get into stride before losing possession.
Another half-chance fell to Pratt when his shot outside the box lacked power and trickled for a goal-kick a few minutes later followed by another Sheppard effort going over.
There was almost a scare for Stones captain Okimo when his clearance almost went past North and into his own net before flying away for a corner.
Half-way through the second half McCootie squared to Jarvis before North made a fantastic save from point-blank range.
The ball was in the back of the net soon after when McCootie thought he had equalised before realising he had fouled North.
With 20 minutes left of the game Grant unleashed a powerful left-footed volley which went wide of House’s far post.
Josh Smile looked for a Bluebirds equaliser with less than 10 minutes to go when his half-volley outside the box could not find the target.
An injury time equaliser almost fell for Kieran Parselle but was unfortunate not to head on target.
A first win at home since January sees Wealdstone move up to 8th place in the table, just one point off the play-off places. Next up is against Torquay United at Plainmoor on 30th March at 3pm.
Wealdstone: North, Tyler, Grant, Smith, Okimo, Poku, Allarakhia (Azeez, 70), Brown, Pratt (Mensah, 75), Green; Sheppard. Subs not used: Monakana, Paterson; Clark.
Dan Finill’s Photos are available HERE.
Report by Dec O’Reilly
Listen to Mike Percival’s Post-Match Interview HERE