It was nearly the worst possible start for Westbury and their new goalkeeper Keiran Ramsey on his debut.
Chippenham Park took a shot straight from kick-off which had Ramsey scrambling backwards towards his goal, managing to get a touch and make sure the ball hit the post.
Park continued their fast start and within minutes won the first corner of the game. The delivery was very good right into the danger area but Jake Stephenson was there to head clear, Westbury countered and the attack finished with the Park goalkeeper tipping a shot onto his bar.
Less than 10 minutes gone and the woodwork at both ends had already been struck. Just after the 10 minute mark Ian Groves gave away a silly free kick in Park’s outside left position. The delivery from the free kick was quality but again Stephenson was there to head clear, but this time the header wasn’t as effective and the ball fell to a Park player in Zone 14. He hit a shot low and hard which Ramsey saved low to his right.
The game continued to be open and flowed end to end. After 20 minutes Sean Brereton picked up the ball in the centre circle and drove straight at the heart of the Park defence. He was fouled to stop his momentum and the referee rightfully awarded a free kick.
It took until the 27th minute for the deadlock to be broken and it was Westbury who struck first. They had taken a corner which Park struggled to deal with, it fell to Danial Price inside the 18 yard box and he struck it through the crowd of players into the net.
The fast pace of the game was too much for the referee and after 33 minutes he unfortunately pulled up injured. This caused the game to be delayed for 15 minutes whilst Westbury’s club officials found a replacement referee to take over from the assistant who was moving into the middle.
Four minutes after the restart, Park had a long punt up the pitch which resulted in them being two on two against the Westbury defence. Park’s number eight Ryan Tyrell skipped past the defender and finished well to make it 1-1. It remained that way until half time.
Straight after the restart Brereton found himself with lots of time in the Park penalty area but instead of being greedy he tried to set up a team mate. Westbury created a few good chances in quick succession but none of them resulted in a goal.
Ferris Lamrabet and Brereton were linking well down the Westbury left but couldn’t quite find the final ball to get Westbury back ahead in the game.
Another couple of chances came and went for Westbury: Jordan Lawrence had a header on target from a Jamie Jordan free kick saved, George Bendle had a shot on goal from a tight angle in the inside left position saved, and Otis Young managed to skip past the keeper but his shot went into the side netting.
The game headed past the 90th minute at 1-1 and with the last meaningful kick of the game Park’s Jamie Norman struck a powerful shot against the bar, this time though the ball hit the unlucky Ramsey and ended up in the Westbury net.
Westbury had their chances but at the end of the day Park nicked it 2-1 and took all the points.
Team: Keiran Ramsey, Ian Groves, Ferris Lamrabet, Jordan Lawrence, Danial Price, Pete Sturman, Jamie Jordan, James Hounsell, George Bendle, Jake Stephenson, Sean Brereton. Subs: Nick Taylor, Otis Young, Grant Gunning (used) Mattie Mantay (unused). Star Man: Jake Stephenson.
