BACON butties were the order of the day as football fans in Chippenham settled down to breakfast in glorious sunshine as they prepared to watch Beckham and co. sweep aside the challenge of Sweden on Sunday morning.

At least that was the plan, but as everybody knows, things turned out quite differently.

By 9.30am, the courtyard and bar at Chippenham's Rose and Crown were already milling with fans sporting England colours and the strains of New Order's World In Motion could be heard, belted out by England's class of 1990.

Friends Ryan Jenkins, 20, of Chippenham, and Jake Stephens, 18, of Kington Langley, wore England bandanas, shirts and flags around their waists, epitomising the mood.

Ryan said that the mood in the town was very patriotic. "We were walking down from Kington Langley and people were beeping their horns and shouting 'Come on England!' out of the window," said Ryan.

The match was beamed through a big screen in the pub's courtyard and approaching kick-off all eyes were on Beckham, the famous metatarsal apparently healed. The match started brightly. Then, midway through the half, everyone leant to the edge of their seats before exploding with emotion as Sol Campbell, rising like a Goliath, bulleted a header into the back of the Swedish net to put us one up. Forget about the match, the air of euphoria was almost like we had won the World Cup already. The Swedes were already beaten, and over the commentary Ron Atkinson was proudly proclaiming what a poor side they were. The half-time whistle blew. England were winning and Three Lions was blaring over the loud speaker.

Everyone was in a party mood, the beer was flowing and the pub was doing a roaring trade, serving up beefburgers and hot dogs.

The second half started brightly. Vassell was tormenting the Swedish defenders and Scholsey was controlling the game midfield. But on the hour mark, disaster struck. Niclas Alexandersson, yes him, that bloke who plays for Everton, sent a scorching drive into the England net following Danny Mills' mistake. It was 1-1 and there was tension in the air. Those in the pub seemed as nervous as the players.

Off came Beckham, who had been anonymous in the second half, and England played the final half an hour looking like a team waiting to lose.

At the final whistle, everyone streamed out of the bar.

Chippenham's Folk Festival may have started the day a distant second on a lot of people's list of priorities, but suddenly attention was back to the dancing, with most people trying to forget the debacle of England's second half performance.

Brendan Reeves, 29, of Surrey, said: "We should have taken them, Sweden were rubbish." Ben Hollands, 24, of Monkton Park, a lifeguard at The Olympiad, was with friends from the Monkton Park Old Boys. "I think it was a positive result, better than losing," he said.

Simon Lemar, 20, a private in the Royal Logistics Corps at Hullavington barracks, said: "I was more disappointed with the commentary. If the players could have heard Ron Atkinson slagging them off in the second half I think most of them would have walked off."

Next up it's the mighty Argentina, and the Folk Festival won't be about for consolation if England perform this badly again.