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| Wokingham 2 Chinnor 0 Another Dull Away Day for Chinnor |
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Chinnor have now gone four games without a win after conceding a goal in
each half to lose to Wokingham at Lowther Road.
Once again Chinnor manager Richard Carr was hampered in his team selection
by unavailability and forced into make into several changes to the previous
week’s side, with Robbie Eason, Darren Peverill and Gary Marshall all
missing. Danny Warner came in for his second start of the season, Adam
Rhodes returned in midfield and Ben Hinton was handed his Chinnor debut at
left wing-back.
The game’s opening was very scrappy with neither side showing much cohesion
in their attacking play and possession was gifted back and forth too often.
Wokingham should have opened the scoring, when after some slack marking,
Matt James found himself in acres of space but lofted his shot over when he
really should have tested Chinnor keeper Rob Brooks. Soon after though,
Brooks was called into action to make a sharp save low to his left to deny
James Wise. At the other end Chinnor were struggling to penetrate the
Wokingham backline, with little quality service being offered to the
frontmen. However, the away side should really have taken the lead from
their first meaningful move of the match as Ryan Davis received the ball in
midfield, turned and threaded a ball through to Mark Jones but his finish
was too close to Mark Walkington in the Wokingham goal and he turned it
behind for a corner. Jones then headed an Ed Janes cross straight at the
keeper but if it seemed Chinnor were gaining a foothold in the game, they
were then undone at the back. The Wokingham right back was allowed to
travel unchecked into the Chinnor box and having rounded Neil Pearson,
squared for Jamie Docherty to tap in the game’s opening goal.
HT: 1-0
To their credit, Chinnor did come out with greater energy after the break
but they were handed an early blow when Adam Rhodes had to go off with a
wrist injury. Gareth Herbert replaced him, making his first appearance of
the season. If anything this helped Chinnor in attacking areas but the
change had a consequence at the back, as from a throw-in on the right, Jones
failed to track Peter Beeching and he strode into the box to score, albeit
via a massive deflection off Pearson, which gave Brooks no chance. With
little to lose, Chinnor actually started to string a few passes together and
began to look like they could get in behind the Wokingham rearguard. Jones
forced a save from Walkington after a sweeping move and Nik Rhodes then saw
his header from a corner tipped over the bar. Adam Brooks was starting to
feature prominently in midfield and he fed Davis twice in quick succession,
showing good vision. From the first attack, it was Herbert who shot off
target and then Jones called Walkington into action again but he was up to
the task. Michael Byrne then shot over when well-placed and Brooks headed
well wide but Chinnor couldn’t reduce the deficit. Indeed Wokingham almost
made it three on the break when Docherty headed over after Joel Havermans
had tormented Chinnor down their left hand side. In the dying embers of the
game, captain Adam Brooks hobbled off with a serious looking ankle injury to
compound Chinnor’s misery and add to the side’s catalogue of midfield
injuries.
FT: 2-0
Another bad away day for Chinnor then and once again they only really
started playing once the game was effectively decided. A lack of confidence
in possession has dogged the side this season and meant chances have been
few and far between, something that only seems to changes when the side goes
for broke in a losing cause. The trip to Witney United in the Challenge Cup
will provide a break from the travails of league action and unburdened with
the pressure of three points to go for, may provide an opportunity for the
side to regroup and produce one of the traditional Chinnor underdog
performances of old.
Team: Rob Brooks; Michael Byrne, Nik Rhodes, Danny Warner (Darren Gregory),
Neil Pearson, Ben Hinton; Ed Janes, Adam Brooks, Adam Rhodes (Gareth
Herbert); Mark Jones, Ryan Davis.
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