OUT-FOUGHT, out-manoeuvred, out-played. Out.
Basingstoke Town made a meek exit from the FA Cup after a performance that lacked passion and heart on Saturday.
With the sought-after prize of a place in the first round - and a hefty win bonus - plus the backing of the biggest crowd of the season to cheer them on, the incentives were all there for Ernie Howe's men to deliver.
But they failed to provide any indication that this clash was one they wanted to either play in or win - leaving Howe with little option but to question his players' desire and hunger afterwards.
He was right as Town shot themselves in the foot - blowing their chances of a £10,000 windfall, as well as retaining the new, paying faces venturing to the Camrose.
Chippenham worked hard and played with self-belief as they hunted a third Conference South scalp in the Cup, after previous successes over Newport and Sutton.
A first-half injury to right-back Ross Adams gave the Wiltshire visitors a more attacking thrust. It forced boss Darren Perrin to abandon his 4-5-1 formation and install James Constable up front alongside Dave Gilroy.
The lively duo took the fight to the Town defence and caused problems.
The same could not be said of the poor James Taylor-Mark Peters combination at the other end. Howe said it showed how much work-horse Martin Whiddett, out with a groin injury, was missed.
In front of 1,072 people, Chippenham enjoyed the better of the first-half possession and won six corners through deflected shots.
Ian Herring's out-swinging deliveries regularly found team-mates and, in the 34th minute, Constable met one such kick from the right with a downward header that shaved the left post.
It stung Town into a response, but Lewis Cook's 30-yard marauding run past three players was ended in the box, just as he was poised to shoot, by Sam Allison's fine recovery tackle.
By tracking back after initially being one of the players beaten by Cook, Allison epitomised what Chippenham were all about.
However, after the interval, it was Town who had the best chance to go ahead.
In the 50th minute, Neville Stamp, restored at left-back in place of Scott Smith, robbed Allison to send Peters away down the left channel.
With Chippenham stretched, the striker beat Herring and Wayne Thorne to get into the box and cross to the far post, where David Ray was unmarked.
But the midfielder, with the goal at his mercy, arrived a little ahead of the ball and could only head down back across goal and wide.
His reaction afterwards was one showing he knew he should have scored.
Ten minutes later, Rob Bullivant kept Town in it with an outstanding one-on-one stop.
Constable reacted to Ben Kirk's ball over the top and beat Jason Bristow's off-side appeal to pace up the right channel and into the area. But, having narrowed the angle, Bullivant beat out a fierce near-post drive.
Suitably encouraged, Chippenham pressed and, with Town's midfield missing, they grew in confidence as they exploited the space.
Herring's long-throws caused issues, captain Thorne narrowly heading over from one from the right as the clock ticked down.
Town appeared to be gearing themselves for a fortunate replay opportunity but Chippenham had other ideas, scoring in the 84th minute.
Constable was again the threat, escaping down the right flank, with the Town defence on their heels, before crossing low into the box along the six-yard line.
Gilroy met it, but Bullivant made a superb point-blank block and then he made two more, getting up to stop with his feet to thwart Gilroy again and then Kirk, arriving from midfield ahead of Wayne Heath.
It was heroic goalkeeping from one of the few Town players to emerge with any credit, but the grounded stopper could only watch as Harvey then arrived to tap into an unguarded net.
It knocked the stuffing out of the Camrose faithful, while their visiting counterparts celebrated wildly, led by Perrin, who got the best 37th birthday present possible - victory and a home tie against either Accrington Stanley or Worcester when the draw was made at 5.10pm at Soho Square. |
