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16/12/2019 11:09 AM  #1


Chelmsford (Home)

Chippenham kick off a busy festive period with a very tricky game against Chelmsford City. Another one of the pre-season picks for many to be going up this year improving upon an already talented squad. We of course are now playing Chelmsford for the second time this season after already securing a 3-3 draw in Essex when our squad was at it's most stretched. Two youth players played centre half that day and against one of the most potent attacking teams in the league, they almost held on for what would have been a miraculous victory. 

As mentioned, Chelmsford play their football in the heart of Essex at Melbourne Road, an athletics facility in the City and are managed by Rod Stringer. The Clarets come into this game 5 points ahead of Chippenham in 11th place however, they have played a game more due to their early exit from the seasons FA Cup coming one game after the draw against Chippenham against lower league opponents Corinthian Casuals. As mentioned Chelmsford have a wealth of attacking talent so much so that former Chippenham tormentor has been again loaned to Woking in the National League because of a lack of game time for the former Billericay hotshot. They have Sam Higgins and Shaun Jeffers at their disposal who currently have 18 goals between them in the National League which is all the more impressive when you consider they are very much a part of a rotation system. 

The one to watch for me is Billy Knott, a player of immense quality with bags of League football experience even at a relatively young 28 years old. Educated in academies such as West Ham and Chelsea at a time those academies were churning out more talent than they knew what to do with, Knott was picked up by Sunderland in 2011. Only making one appearance for Sunderland however, he was loaned out to AFC Wimbledon, Wycombe, Port Vale, Lincoln and arguably the most famous Bradford City where he played 80 minutes of the famous 4-2 Victory against Chelsea in the FA Cup. A brief spell at Rochdale before dropping into the non league, Billy Knott is one of the very finest players in this league with a work rate and engine as impressive as his wand of a left foot and needs to be neutralised as best as possible in order to get something from a game against Chelmsford. 

Famous faces is a nice easy one this time around. Signing from Salisbury City after a mere 3 games and 2 goals, Leroy Lita is a face that any follower of football is going to be aware of. Starting his career relatively close with Bristol City, Lita made 85 appearances for City scoring 31 goals before securing his move to Reading. During this time, Lita helped the Royals secure promotion to the Premier League and Lita's goals didn't dry up once he had reached the Premier League. After falling victim to Reading's desire Lita was deemed surplus to requirement and spent time in the Championship, scoring goals for Charlton and Norwich on loan before signing for Middlesborough scoring 20 goals in the two seasons he spent up north. Newly promoted Swansea City then came knocking for a striker with proven Premier League scoring ability and Lita found himself at the Liberty Stadium however, after only making 16 appearances his first year and scoring only 2 goals, Lita would find himself again on loan to Championship clubs and although the goals still came for the former England U21 International, they were in shorter supply and eventually after a spell in League One, played in Greece and Thailand before heading back to England. A very brief spell at Margate and then Salisbury before ending up in Chelmsford, Lita could well be a very dangerous impact sub should he make an appearance at the TS Stadium on Saturday. 

For the Bluebirds, unless you have been living under a rock for the last fortnight you will be aware of 2 high profile absentees from the squad on Saturday. Will Richards has once again broken his arm, he underwent surgery last Thursday and am told all went well with the surgery and now Will obviously has a period of recovery to endure. He will want to be back as soon as possible and breaks heal at different rates but it is expected at least a period of 6-8 weeks missing for the key man. Again, best wish to Will and hope to see you back safe nice and soon. And of course then there is the man seemingly on everyone's lips at the moment, Nat Jarvis. Depending on who you talk to there is all sorts of reasons why the 20+ goal striker from last term is currently fetching a splinter from his arse but I would suggest the club itself would be the best person to listen to in regards that matter, anything else is either going to be opinion or the side of a story that has been collected from elsewhere but one thing is for certain, the player does not seem unfit, unsettled or any other affliction, scoring goals is a bit of an issue for us currently and in times of jeopardy, I would suggest that going with what you know is a good start. Tom Owen Evans is available again after coming through his first 90 in a 0-0 draw away at Maidstone and I am sure he is going to grow into the team in his time with and help our push up the division. Elias Youssef however, I am certain would have now started his 3 game ban for Violent Conduct. 

A game that yielded an extraordinary 3-3 draw in the first game, I expect much of the same here. A fast open game with plenty of chances for both sides, worryingly Chelmsford seem to take these chances where as at the moment, putting the ball in the net is a bit of a cause for concern. Hopefully there is an end to this issue over the coming weeks as I fear without Will and against the level of opposition we are set to face and their playing style, to get something from the games, we are going to have to score goals. However, our defence is a strong asset and I don't see it being breached many times, therefore I am going for a cheeky 2-1 win for the Bluebirds with the defence to hold out well and our strikers to find a little bit of form in that final third. We have 4-5 options up there at the moment with Zebroski, Jarvis, Chambers, Pratt and Hopper. We should not be struggling the way we are for goals and Saturday I think we will put it right and begin that climb up the VNS. 

COYMB 

 

16/12/2019 3:56 PM  #2


Re: Chelmsford (Home)

I did take in that away game and we were very inexperienced on the day against a very big side who looked dangerous from every free kick and corner, the loss of big Will will be a miss. Chelmsford have run into good form and I think our issue maybe coming to terms with their experience, we really need to get behind the team in the coming weeks, we have to be the 12th man. No Richards no Youseff, what’s the latest on Jarvis as I would think its all hands to the pump

 

16/12/2019 9:51 PM  #3


Re: Chelmsford (Home)

Reginald74 wrote:

I did take in that away game and we were very inexperienced on the day against a very big side who looked dangerous from every free kick and corner, the loss of big Will will be a miss. Chelmsford have run into good form and I think our issue maybe coming to terms with their experience, we really need to get behind the team in the coming weeks, we have to be the 12th man. No Richards no Youseff, what’s the latest on Jarvis as I would think its all hands to the pump

Absolutely Reginald. I know this is traditionally the Saturday when dads are dragged off to do the Christmas shopping, but hopefully we can get a decent crowd in and make some noise. 

 

 

21/12/2019 12:35 PM  #4


Re: Chelmsford (Home)

As has been stated a tricky game. Chelmsford are one of the bigger clubs in this league and I'm sure will come well prepared. However our track record this last couple of years proves that we raise our game against the so called 'better' teams and I see no reason why we won't today. Difficult to predict but I would take a draw. Attendance 532.

 

21/12/2019 6:28 PM  #5


Re: Chelmsford (Home)

I've been asking myself why Zebroski hasn't been put in that role and what a revelation. Possibly the best we have played all season thoroughly deserved 3 points. Truly dreadful ref though.

 

21/12/2019 6:37 PM  #6


Re: Chelmsford (Home)

Cracking result, everyone worked really hard for the team, new lad No7 did struggle to get into the game though. There manager was constantly shouting instructions and in all honesty I think it confuses his own players!!
3points of a realistic 6-7 over Xmas.
And some of the rumours put to bed by Mark on the radio this morning, things are looking a little more rosey.

 

21/12/2019 8:05 PM  #7


Re: Chelmsford (Home)

Funny that I thought Tom played really well. The team overall played with a lot more pace and looked dangerous at times. But for 3 good saves from their keeper we could have had a rout. Mind you Puddy also had a couple of good ones. A few travelling fans gave the visitors a pretty nasty assessment of their team's performance as they left the pitch - I didn't think they played that badly really

 

21/12/2019 8:30 PM  #8


Re: Chelmsford (Home)

Just thought he struggled to get into the game first half when playing more central, played better 2nd though.

Last edited by Wellard (21/12/2019 8:32 PM)

 

21/12/2019 9:11 PM  #9


Re: Chelmsford (Home)

Great result and a very encouraging performance. I thought the whole team played well and we seemed to go forward with much more pace and creativity than for a long time. If I had to pick a man of the match it would be Chris Zebroski but it could have been almost anyone. I repeat - very encouraging.

Just as a side note, we sometimes have a minutes silence before kick-off, as we did today, but rarely is it announced beforehand. Or am I going deaf? 

 

21/12/2019 10:33 PM  #10


Re: Chelmsford (Home)

Great performance today, and the way we started the game, and came out all guns blazing in the second  half, how we didn't score more, there keeper was good.

Last edited by Pinkman (21/12/2019 10:34 PM)

 

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