CHIPPENHAM Town boss Mark Collier praised the efforts of his side after they all but secured their National League South status for next season following a 1-0 win at Oxford City today.

A determined display in defence during the closing minutes of Town’s latest encounter earned them another three points, adding to the 4-0 win at home to Eastbourne Borough on Saturday.

The win means Collier’s men climb to 13th in the National League South table, a massive 15 points clear of relegation-bound Poole Town and 10 points short of seventh-placed Welling.

And Collier wants his men to kick on from Easter Monday’s performance to earn as many points possible from their remaining four fixtures.

He said: “We need to be looking up the table. We’ve had a great six weeks with one poor performance against Concord that was well documented, but the response from the players has been first class.

“We made five changes against Oxford. When you think you’ve took half the team out and played a different five players, it shows what we have in our dressing room.

“The spirit and mental state of the players is great. Sometimes you come to these grounds (with 3G pitches) and teams play differently.

“But I told them I don’t want them playing any differently to what they would do on the grass. Sometimes there’s a mentality change where players think they can roll back because they’re on plastic.

“We had to play with the same amount of application and determination to what we did at the weekend, and we did that. I’m particularly pleased.”

Chippenham scored the game’s only goal midway through the first half when Jake Jackson picked up a loose ball in the midfield before shooting unchallenged from outside City’s area.

Both teams struggled to carve out any clear cut chances from there on, though Town were forced into making several blocks in the penalty area during the closing minutes of the game as Oxford searched for an equaliser.

And Town’s commitment to the cause pleased Collier.

He said: “Oxford is a difficult place to come at the best of times, they’re fighting for their lives and they can pass for fun.

“I don’t think they created many chances. We got our goal and could sit deep and play on the counter.

“We’re very pleased, it was a great all round performance and backs up our three points from Saturday.

“I said to the lads if they want to have a beer tonight please do so.”

Chippenham are next in action on Saturday with a trip to Hemel Hempstead Town before hosting Truro City a week later.