Hampton & Richmond will look to make it three wins on the bounce when Chippenham Town visit Beveree in the Vanarama National League South this weekend.
Where They Stand
The Beavers currently sit fifth in the league table, level on points with fourth placed Braintree. Below, Bath City, Maidstone, St Albans and Aveley all remain within striking distance as the NLS remains incredibly tight at both ends of the table. Three wins from their last four has seen Mel Gwinnett's side restore hopes of a strong end to the campaign after a difficult start to 2024.
Chippenham find themselves down in 14th. The bluebirds are eleven points clear of the drop zone and thirteen points from the play-offs. Their last five results have seen two victories, two defeats and a draw. Gary Horgan's side will be hoping to ignite a last minute push to end the season strongly as they look ahead to next year, starting this afternoon at Beveree.
Last Time Out
Another early Mason Bloomfield strike and a first goal of the season for Jordan Thomas extended the Beavers unbeaten run to ten games back in November. A late header from the hosts set up a dramatic finish, but the Hampton & Richmond back-line stood strong to take home the points.
A shaky start for Chippenham led to a host of chances in the opening period, with Rob Hall and Jake Gray dictating the Beavers’ counter-attacks, picking up on several stray passes. The hard work paid off when Mason Bloomfield found himself 12-yards out, rifling his effort into the left corner to make it 0-1.
Chippenham eventually found their feet, taking charge of possession and pinning Hampton & Richmond back into their own half. Tom Mayhew had the best chance as he was fed in behind the defence, skewing his shot well wide.
The Bluebirds fell asleep at the back again though, as Jordan Thomas chased down a loose ball in the box, won it and converted the visitors second midway through the first half.
The rest of the first period saw the hosts pushing to bring the game back to life.
Mason Bloomfield made way at the restart for Alfy Whittingham, having picked up a slight knock. The hosts picked up where they left off, constraining the Beavers to a handful of counters. That being said, the centre-back duo of Luis Fernandez and Isaac Pitblado had little to do for large periods, until Dan Ellison’s rocket header in the 89th minute setup a dramatic finish.
Fixture History
The Beavers hold the historical edge coming into the fixture. The two sides have faced off just eleven times in history, with Hampton & Richmond winning on six occasions and only losing twice. The most enthralling encounter came back in 2018 when two goals from Kretzschmar and a third from Jeffers earned the TW12 side a point in a dramatic 3-3 victory away from home.