United 3
(Goodwin 29′, Wearne 55′, 58′)
Chippenham 2
(Young 6′, Bray 23′)
United battled back from two goals down to defeat Chippenham on Tuesday evening, in a gripping Isuzu FA Trophy 3rd Round tie.
Goals from Jordan Young and Alex Bray gave Chippenham a dream start, before Will Goodwin halved the deficit during an action-packed first half. Two goals in three minutes from Stephen Wearne turned the game on its head after the break, and secured The Gulls their place in the FA Trophy 4th Round.
The Gaffer made three changes to the side that went down to Oldham 3-2 in their last outing, with Ross Marshall, Aaron Jarvis and Dillon De Silva replaced by Ryan Hanson, Corie Andrews and Brett McGavin, who all took their spaces in the starting XI.
The first chance fell the way of the visitors in the 3rd minute, as a swift break from Torquay saw Alefe Santos D’Abadia make steady progress down the right flank, before feeding Luke Russe to shot wide from the edge of the D.
Having failed to heed that warning Town took the lead three minutes later.
A misplaced pass in the centre of midfield allowed Bray to stroll dangerously into the final third, with his pass into the area prompting Young to round Mark Halstead and open the scoring.
Following that shock, it took the men in yellow some time to get going, and although Shaun Donnellan flashed a header just wide on just past the 20-minute mark, an official’s flag would have brought any celebrations to a close anyway.
If Hanson had been able to make a cleaner connection at the back-post following Dylan Crowe’s right wing delivery it certainly would have counted a minute later, however with a covering defender making life difficult, his snatched effort went straight to visiting glovesman Will Henry.
Midway through the first period, Town struck again.
After powering his way into the left side of the box, Bray saw an initial strike hit a United defender’s legs, but with the ball coming straight back to him, he unleashed a powerful right-footer that beat Halstead all ends-up. 0-2.
Needing inspiration from somewhere, Johnson’s side found a pathway back into the match through a familiar, and reliable, source.
With a Chippenham corner amounting to nothing, the recalled Andrews found acres of space down the right channel to run into, and when defenders halted his progress, the striker played an inch-perfect ball across the penalty area, leaving Goodwin to apply a confident finish past Henry to reduce the arrears.
It was the Stoke loanee’s eighth of 2022/23.
With an air of edginess prevailing in the United backline though, Young nearly made it three following another drive through the Yellows’ backline, but on this occasion he couldn’t beat Halstead, who smothered the shot with a sprawling save to keep his side in touch.
Torquay started to gain a bit more authority in possession leading up to the break, without making any major in-roads, as the 1-2 scoreline remaining at the change of ends.
Gary Johnson’s side were certainly in the ascendancy following the restart, with the introduction of De Silva giving the team some added penetration down the right hand-side.
Ironically when The Gulls found an equaliser, it came from the opposite flank.
In the 55th minute, a sublime take down of a long ball, followed by an equally majestic crossfield pass picked out Wearne bearing down on goal, leaving the United man to dink the ball underneath the advancing Henry and make it all-square.
Better was to follow three minutes later.
Having gone so close to opening his goalscoring account in recent weeks, Wearne was clearly eager to make up for lost time, and when a cross from the right found him in space at the back-post, he calmly volley the ball home to put his side in front.
It was nearly a quick-fire hat-trick, as another dart inside the box from the same man saw him prod the ball past the far-post – just ahead of the onrushing Goodwin. How that didn’t go in was anyone’s guess.
The game wasn’t over though, and it took an impeccable sliding block from Ollie Tomlinson to prevent another replacement, Joe Parker, profiting from a dangerous Town foray into the area.
United made and missed a number of chances to seal the deal, but remained resolute at the end.
There was one late scare, as Young broke free of Mark Ellis, before sending his low shot narrowly wide from an acute angle, but having survived that, an excellent evening of entertainment was brought to a close shortly after, and with it, securing a place in the last-32 for Johnson’s charges.
Happy Christmas, Yellow Army!
United: 1. Mark Halstead, 2. Dylan Crowe (23. Ollie Tomlinson, 67′), 7. Ryan Hanson (7. Dillon De Silva, HT), 10. Corie Andrews (9. Aaron Jarvis, 57′), 11. Kieron Evans, 12. Stephen Wearne, 14. Brett McGavin, 16. Shaun Donnellan, 19. Will Goodwin, 21. Dean Moxey, 35. Mark Ellis.
SUBS NOT USED: 22. Rhys Lovett, 5. Ali Omar, 15. Ben Wyatt.
Yellow Cards: Hanson 38′,Jarvis 71′, Moxey 90+2′
Chippenham Town: 1. Will Henry, 2. Eddie Jones, 3. Will King, 6. Will Richards (c), 7. Alefe Santos D’Abadia (8. Callum Gunner, 79′), 9. Jordan Young, 11. Alex Bray (17. Joe Parker, 71′), 12. Harry Parsons, 14. Tom Mehew, 15. Leighton Tuodolo, 19. Luke Russe.
SUBS NOT USED: 5. Zak Mitchell, 13. Joe Hanks, 18. Harvey Greenslade, 20. James Walker.
Attendance: 768 (15 away)