Crusaders pay price for missed chances
But Hungerford secure draw against Weymouth after Chippenham loss
DANNY Robinson’s Hungerford Town side made the short trip west on the M4 to local rivals Chippenham Town on Saturday, but returned home pointless after the hosts snatched a 1-0 win thanks to a second-half goal from Luke Russe.
The Crusaders had the better of the opening exchanges at Hardenhuish Park and went within a hair’s breadth of taking the lead inside five minutes when Adam Liddle’s sweeping shot cannoned off the crossbar and Jerry Gyebi proved unable to turn home the rebound.
Chippenham tested Crusaders keeper Jed Ward for the first time 15 minutes in as former Swindon man Jordan Young shot from outside the box and the Bluebirds went close again 10 minutes later when Seb Palmer-Houlden shot wide after a fluent move.
Both James Rusby and Karamon English spurned chances for the Crusaders, but it was Matt Berry-Hargreaves who was guilty of the most glaring miss when he skewed a shot wide inside the box after a Jake Evans free-kick just before half-time.
Into the second half and Hungerford thought they’d taken the lead when Joel Rollinson latched on to a cross and stroked the ball beyond Chippenham’s Will Henry in the 48th minute.
With no flag raised, Hungerford’s fans and players celebrated but the referee, after a lengthy consultation with his linesman, decided Rollinson had in fact been offside and ruled the goal out – much to Chippenham’s delight.
The Bluebirds grew into the game as the second half progressed and forced a couple of
smart saves from Ward, who enjoyed another strong showing between the sticks.
However, he was denied his clean sheet 13 minutes from time when former Bristol Rovers midfielder Luke Russe rose highest to turn home a corner with a powerful header and put the hosts 1-0 up.
Hungerford had time for one more chance when skipper Rusby picked out Rollinson, who cut inside but drilled his shot over the bar with three minutes left on the clock.
The referee’s final whistle soon followed, leaving boss Robinson a visibly frustrated figure.
“We wanted to do it for the supporters,” Robinson said.
“First half I thought we were the better side, we just didn’t take our chances again.
“Second half I felt we started brightly – I have no idea why the referee disallowed our goal.
“It looked perfectly good from where I was and the linesman didn’t put his flag up.
“The referee’s given the goal but then they’ve had a mother’s meeting about it and chalked it off, I’m perplexed.
“Then for their goal, it shouldn’t have been a corner in the first place, Jed didn’t touch it.
“I’m not going to moan and groan any more. I’m going to reflect on how we didn’t deal with the corner, how we didn’t really get going in the last 20 minutes.
“We’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net, simple as that.
“When you’re on top of games you’ve got to score and we just didn’t.
“The best thing about football is that we go again, there’s always another game around the corner.”
On Monday, Hungerford secured
a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Weymouth thanks to a second-half header from Gyebi at Bulpit Lane.
The Crusaders survived the last 15 minutes with 10 men after George Smith was sent off when a cynical foul earned him a second yellow card.
Weymouth had arrived late, but made a fast start, taking the lead four minutes in when Tom Bearwish brilliantly volleyed Tom Blair’s cross into the top corner.
The Terras almost went two up on seven minutes when Berry-Hargreaves nearly turned the impressive Keelan O’Connell’s cross into his own net.
Ward then made a number of saves to keep the deficit down to just one, first keeping out Daniel Matsuzaka’s header on 10 minutes and then denying O’Connell three minutes later.
The Dorset-based side had another good chance to double their lead before half time when Blair drove into the box, but drilled his shot over Ward’s crossbar.
Hungerford were rewarded for a much-improved start to the second half just before the hour mark when Gyebi rose highest to meet Jake Evans’ corner and head beyond Bournemouth loanee Billy Terrell in the Weymouth goal to level the scores.
Smith saw red 15 minutes from time after he pulled a Weymouth shirt on the edge of the box, leaving the referee little choice but to brandish a second yellow.
Hungerford, however, stood firm and survived the final quarter of an hour without too many scares to pick up a wellearned point.
The result leaves the Crusaders 18th in the table, while visitors Weymouth remain bottom despite picking up a first point of the season.