Bluebirds miss out for a third time (From Wiltshire Times)

Bluebirds miss out for a third time

2:47pm Friday 4th May 2007

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By Gareth Moorhouse »

ON the day when an earthquake rattled residents in parts of Kent, Chippenham Town saw their faint promotion hopes crumble before their very eyes.

But the cracks began to appear long before a ball was even kicked at Vauxhall Road on Saturday.

And though Adie Mings brought about a seismic shift in fortunes in the last three months of the season, the damage had already been done.

Hopes were high in July when Chippenham outplayed Conference South side Newport County 3-1 in a pre-season friendly.

After losing in the Southern League play-off final two seasons in a row, Bluebirds fans were confident Darren Perrin had assembled a squad strong enough to challenge for league honours.

But a winless August left those same supporters questioning whether Perrin's new-look squad were up to the task.

The manager himself must have been thinking the same thing when he axed four of his summer signings before his own untimely departure in January.

September saw Chippenham record their first league win, a 5-1 thumping of now-relegated Northwood at Hardenhuish Park.

But the month ended in despair as the Bluebirds slipped to an embarrassing defeat against Hellenic League Slimbridge in the FA Cup. More misery was to follow in early October with back-to-back league defeats against Gloucester City and Merthyr Tydfil.

The 1-0 reverse at Gloucester prompted Perrin to put the first of two media bans on his players as the pressure began to tell.

The team responded with a superb 1-0 victory away to Tiverton Town, when both goalkeeper Chris Snoddy and skipper Ian Herring were sent off.

But it took two attempts and extra time to see off Hillingdon Borough in the first round of the Southern League Cup.

Budget cuts saw summer signings Steve Jenkins, Danny Maye and Andy Robertson, who never played a competitive minute for the club, all released before the end of the month.

Defeat to Didcot in the second qualifying round of the FA Trophy was perhaps the lowest point of the season, as a potentially lucrative cup run was cut short by lower league opposition.

Off the pitch things went from bad to worse as the club's unofficial internet forum was forced to close following personal attacks on the chairman and her family.

Battle lines were drawn and a new fans' forum launched as the supporters hit back, but gates for home matches were still well down on the previous season.

Those who made the short trip to Cirencester on Boxing Day celebrated a late Christmas present as Chippenham ran out 3-1 winners.

But four straight league defeats, culminating in a humiliating 5-0 trouncing at Banbury United, proved to be the final nail in Perrin's coffin.

The transfer listing of defender Adam Garner, who discovered his fate by answer phone message, will not have helped Perrin's cause.

But nobody could have predicted the farce that followed, as Perrin was made to wait three weeks before his suspension became an official sacking.

That story still has column inches to fill, but it was Perrin's assistant Adie Mings who grabbed the headlines as he transformed Chippenham's on-field fortunes.

With Iain Harvey as his new captain, Mings guided the team to five consecutive league wins and into the play-off reckoning for a third straight season.

But a controversial defeat at Halesowen saw the Mings' juggernaut hit the buffers as the new boss tasted a dose of reality.

Midfielder Mark Badman courageously went on record to talk about his gambling addiction as his team-mates and family rallied round him.

By the time Badman's month-long stint at Tony Adams' Sporting Chance Clinic was over, Chippenham had lost ground on their promotion rivals.

Demoralising defeats at Bath City and King's Lynn followed, leaving Mings' men with too much to do on the final day of the season at Hemel Hempstead.

And though the Bluebirds gave it everything in Hertfordshire, another season of Southern League football beckons.

Like the people of Kent, Mings has a job to rebuild his squad in time for the 2007/8 campaign. Everyone will hope to be better prepared next time.

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