CHIPPENHAM Town chief Mark Collier was pleased to see his side stand up to the brute strength of Chesham United and snatch a draw with a last-gasp Greg Tindle equaliser.

After falling behind to Toby Little’s finely-struck free-kick, the Bluebirds went hell for leather in the closing stages and were rewarded as Greg Tindle headed home at the far post from a Luke Ballinger cross three minutes into added time.

Both sides played the last half-hour with ten men after Chippenham’s Matt Coupe and Chesham’s veteran former Birmingham City defender Darren Purse were both shown straight red cards for a prolonged tussle following a Bluebirds corner.

And with the home side also missing strikers Darren Edwards and Mark Francis, who pulled out due to illness, Collier was delighted to see his team battle through adverse circumstances.

“Speaking to their manager (Andy Leese), by his own admission, they’d had a poor start to the season but they’re unbeaten in their last eight in the league,” said the Chippenham manager.

“They’re a very big and powerful side and they’re in-form too, so I’m happy to get a point out of it. I think it was a fair result.

“It’s a good point, particularly when you remember that we were missing (Lee) Phillips, (Alan) Griffin, (Mark) Francis, Darren Edwards and Iain Harvey, who would all get in most sides.

“We were attacking a lot towards the end and really went for it, sticking a few people up front. We ended the game with Mark Preece and Greg Tindle up front and, would you believe, James Guthrie at the back with Conor McCormack.

“Matt Coupe’s sending off was a bit of a shame because he’ll now miss three games and he’s only just come back from injury. Him and Darren Purse had a bit of a melee at a corner and they carried on whilst the referee was talking to them, so he’s decided to send them both off.”

The Bluebirds make the trip to Slough Town in the Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division next Tuesday and Collier revealed that striker Alan Griffin is in contention for a place in the squad after continuing his comeback from surgery by playing 120 minutes in Chippenham Park’s FA Vase defeat to Bradford Town on Friday night.

Iain Harvey returns from a one-match ban whilst Lee Phillips, who has been given the all-clear to resume playing despite still requiring knee surgery, returned to training late last week.

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