CHIPPENHAM Town suffered FA Cup heartbreak as they fell victim to a last-minute winner in their 3-2 third qualifying round defeat at Billericay Town.
Mark Collier’s side were dealt a double whammy in the first 10 minutes of the game when Greg Cundle gave the hosts the lead before Matt Jones was shown a straight red card for a heavy tackle.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, it was Chippenham who were the better side and they were able to make the most of it when Mark Preece headed home to make it 1-1 at the interval.
Dave Pratt was then able to put the visitors ahead but it wasn’t to be as the hosts levelled the game for the second time in the 78th minute through Cundle before snatching a win with an injury time goal from Goldy Capela.
Collier said it was a tough defeat to take for the Bluebirds and felt his team deserved to get something from the game.
“The performance was very good,” Collier said. “We started OK but found ourselves a goal down, then a few minutes later we were a goal down and down to 10 men.
“It was a difficult place to go against a team who have won seven on the spin but the response from the lads was outstanding.
“We went into the break at 1-1 and the second half was how we wanted it to start with lots of breaks but they had a couple of lads who had huge throws.
“It was gut-wrenching for the players because they had been down to ten men for so long. They worked their socks off.”
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