Year Summary 2005
The 2004/05 season was year one of a five year plan to achieve National League rugby and was planned as a development year before the push towards South West 1. The agreed objective was to maintain the clubs league status (top four finish) while introducing a number of new faces into the senior squad. Three recruits from local clubs Alex Fereday (Avon), Dave Martin (Bradford on Avon) and Hamish Morton (Salisbury) along with the return of hooker Jon Whiteman, centre Gary Champion and scrum-half Andy Williamson from University gave the 1st team squad a new look.
Initially promotion was not on the agenda but an opening day win at title favourites Swanage & Wareham (24-13), followed by four wins from the next five fixtures saw the club reset its sights. Consecutive defeats away to eventual champions Reading Abbey (19-3) and mid table Windsor (23-5) stalled things slightly but this was followed by a run of nine consecutive wins and a top of the table position. Promotion was now a real possibility and with the outstanding second row pairing of Nick Doyle (20) and Ben Shuker (24) ably supported by an equally young front row of John Bearte (23) Jon Whiteman (23) and Karl Parry (20) Chippenham were becoming a match for anyone in the league.
With Chippenham leading the table by a single point the return game against Reading Abbey was looking like a winner takes all affair. An absolute nail-biter saw Chippenham lose 21-22 to an injury time penalty try and left the Allington field team needing to win their remaining four league games to ensure a home draw in the play-offs.
With centre and Captain Rupert Crockett leading from the front and fly-half Grant Trewartha pulling the strings Amersham & Chiltern, Swanage & Wareham, Wimborne and Oakmedians were all duly despatched to set up the home tie. The South West 2 play-off saw the visit to Allington of much fancied Gloucester club Coney Hill but after taking an early lead Chippenham were never behind and ran out eventual winners 24-18 courtesy of tries from Dave Martin and Scott Sherratt, with the leagues top points scorer Andy Williamson contributing 14pts with the boot.
As for the coming season Head coach Rob Alford said "We have a very young squad and we realise that the step up to South West 1 will test them. Our initial aim is simply consolidation, which then leaves us three more seasons to achieve the clubs goal of National League rugby. We are a totally amateur club which is well set up both on and off of the field and we have a structure in place which enables us to get the best out of local talent".
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