CHIPPENHAM Town manager Gary Horgan was left disappointed after twice watching his dominant Bluebirds side lose games in National League South over the past week.

On Saturday, Chippenham were beaten 2-0 away by Tonbridge after goals by Ruben Soares-Junior and Lewis Gard, 15 minutes into each half.

Then, three days later, ex-Walsall defender Kory Roberts struck with the last kick of the game to snatch all three points for Hemel Hempstead at the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium.

Horgan claimed his players had the better of both matches and would have been deserving winners, even with a midweek squad which featured a handful of academy players following an outbreak of illness.

Looking back, Horgan said: “Across the course of the two games, it was disappointing because I think we were the better side in both games.

“On Saturday, we didn’t start the game too brightly and conceded within the first 15 minutes.

“But then we controlled the game from then on, we just couldn’t break them down enough to score. We missed a number of really, really good chances, and then got caught on the counter at the end.

“And then going into Tuesday with a threadbare squad due to injury and illness, it was always going to be difficult. But again, we were really good from start to finish.

“Had they not scored with the last kick of the game, we would have come off disappointed we hadn’t won the game rather than being happy we’d taken a point with a threadbare squad.”

Having begun the two-match stint in the top half of the division, back-to-back defeats have left the Bluebirds in 17th – nine points off the play-offs and just four points away from the relegation zone.

Chippenham’s manager revealed he is not in the slightest bit concerned at this stage because experience tells him a small winning run can fire any team upwards at a rate of knots.

Discussing the strength of National League South, Horgan said: “It's such a competitive division every year.

“Look at last year, it was only really that good run towards the end of the season that allowed us to get into the play-offs. Had we not taken that amount of points, we would have conceivably finished a lot closer to the bottom.

“It’s a tough and tight league every year, and if someone puts a decent run of results together then you invariably see them fly up the table.

“We’ve had a really busy schedule recently, it just so happens that in the past two games we haven’t been ruthless enough in both boxes.”