CHIPPENHAM Town manager Gary Horgan admitted both of the Bluebirds’ most recent draws felt like defeats.

Chippenham scored a stoppage-time penalty on Saturday to rescue a 4-4 draw at home to relegation rivals Cheshunt.

Horgan’s men then experienced the flip side of a late goal when Hemel Hempstead equalised in second-half injury time of the 1-1 draw on Tuesday night.

Joe Hanks netted a first-half hat-trick against Cheshunt before Matt McLure scored in the 94th minute to prevent the Ambers from leap-frogging the Bluebirds.

Discussing the first of two results which kept Chippenham out of the relegation zone on goal difference, Horgan said: “The last two games, If I’m honest, both of them felt like defeats.

“We were never in front at any point on Saturday, but even at 2-0 down I felt really comfortable and confident.

“It was probably the calmest I’ve been this year because I almost knew we would get back into the game. To go in at half-time at 3-3, I’m confident that we go on to win the game comfortably.

“Unfortunately, we’ve made another mistake early in the second half. You can’t really legislate for that, and Saturday’s game was littered with mistakes, unfortunately.

“It feels like an opportunity missed given the control we had in that game.”

After saving a point at the weekend, Craig Fasanmade nudged the Wiltshire side in front shortly after half-time in midweek.

It appeared as though Chippenham were on course for a first victory in six games since beating Chelmsford City away on January 7, only for Hemel’s Luke Holness to strike in the 93rd minute.

The Bluebirds’ boss was gutted to watch another mistake cost his side a win he felt they richly deserved.

Horgan said: “On Tuesday, we had 90 minutes of pretty much the perfect away performance.

“They’ve had two shots, at best, and both of those were from distance. Will Henry has not really had a save to make.

“We defended really well. And when I say that, there was no last-ditch tackles, we controlled the game comfortably.

“We got went in front and had a couple of chances to make it two while still containing them, but we’ve made a really poor decision when 30 seconds to go.

“My team talk and the feeling from the players is completely different. We went from a perfect away performance to it feeling like a defeat.”

Chippenham face a trip to Welling United on Saturday prior to hosting Worthing at the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium in midweek.