CHIPPENHAM Town kept their promotion push in rude health with victory on the road at Basingstoke Town on Saturday afternoon.

Mark Collier’s side completed the final leg of a sequence of three successive away matches with a win that saw them record seven out of a possible nine points.

Unlike the previous two games that were played on difficult pitch surfaces, this match in Hampshire was played in wet and windy conditions, with the latter element having a significant bearing on the Bluebirds’ 2-1 triumph.

The opening goal came on three minutes when a wind-assisted clearance at a corner found its way to Matt Smith 40 yards from goal, and he hit a low shot back through a crowd of players and past Basingstoke keeper Alex Tokarczyk.

Two minutes later, Alex Ferguson's shot on the turn was saved whilst at the other end, Darren Chitty came out on top against Aaron Jarvis.

But the Dragons equalised on eight minutes when Dan Collier's long-range shot, which was also assisted by the wind, was spilled by Chitty and Ashleigh Artwell was on hand to tuck the loose ball away.

However, Parity was to only last five minutes as a long Chippenham clearance was held up in the wind, deceiving the home defence, and Andy Sandell got the better of two defenders whilst Tokarczyk left his line, only for the Bluebirds frontman to round him on the edge of the area and roll the ball home.

Sam Deadfield hit a free-kick wide for the hosts before Nuno Felix produced an acrobatic overhead kick to pull off a goal-line clearance from Artwell.

As Basingstoke continued to press, Chitty just managed to reach a Joe Gator headed effort following a corner.

On 24 minutes, good work by Felix and Dave Pratt ended with Smith's chip clipping the bar and then five minutes before the break, the hosts’ Matt Partridge made use of the elements to fire a 40-yard free-kick that Chitty did well to dive on.

Sandell then saw a shot blocked, with Will Richards hitting the loose ball over.

After the interval, a dipping shot from Dan Collier just cleared the bar. Sandell then beat three defenders and his shot was parried by Tokarczyk.

On 66 minutes, the Basingstoke custodian saw his clearance catch in the wind and from just inside the Hampshire side's half, Smith hit a lob over the keeper but just over the bar.

A minute later Tokarczyk produced a superb save to deny Sandell.

The hosts then went 3-5-2 and dominated midfield with some slick passing but they were unable to make their possession count.

A quarter-of-an-hour from time, Basingstoke had claims for a penalty waived away after a challenge in the area.

On 84 minutes, a mistake by a home defender saw the ball passed back to Sandell in the area but his shot was blocked on the line and Smith's follow-up effort was saved.

Two minutes later, a Basingstoke free-kick from the right flank, aimed towards to the near post, was punched by Chitty and the ball hit the onrushing Jarvis and out for a goal kick.

CHIPPENHAM TOWN: Darren Chitty, Dan Bowman, Nuno Felix, Gary Horgan, Rhys Baggridge, Will Richards, Alex Ferguson, Matt Smith, David Pratt, Andy Sandell, James Guthrie (Jake Andrews 76) Subs not used: Jon Beeden, Micahel Pook, Matt Jones, Greg Tindle.

Referee: James Durkin

Attendance: 397