CORSHAM Town manager Justin Flowers hailed his side’s battling qualities as they toiled to a 1-1 draw against local rivals Calne Town, writes JONATHAN LEIGHFIELD.

Despite spending 70 minutes of the game with a player less – as a result of Jamal Chevolleau’s red card for retaliation – Corsham came away with a point, although Flowers felt it could and should have been more.

The home side took the lead seven minutes after the dismissal as Josh Bright rolled the ball home however, they could not hold out until half-time as Mike Hill headed in from a corner.

Corsham had chances to win the game late on and Flowers was left disappointed his side failed to take them.

Labelling the performance as ‘one of the best of the season’, Flowers was left wondering what might have been but admitted it was a positive result in the end.

He said: “Having the man sent off after 25 minutes made it quite an uphill battle, but it was one of our best performances of the season. On reflection, I think we should have won it.

“We thought it was going to be very tough in the second half, but I think we edged the second half as well. We defended really well and at the end we had the chances to win it.

“It’s a good point because of where they are in the league, because it was a derby and with us going down to ten men so early.”

With just one defeat in their previous four, Flowers felt it would be important to win the physical battle before his side could show their footballing ability if they wanted that run to continue – something he felt his midfield diamond were instrumental in.

He said: “We know what Calne are like – they’re a very physical team, an in-your-face kind of side, so we knew that if we could match that, then we’d hope the football and the chances we’d create would come through as a result.

“That’s exactly what happened – our midfield four were superb.

“The task became that much harder once we went down to ten men, but everyone stepped up because they knew they had to and that’s what capped off our performance.”

Elsewhere in Division One, there were defeats for the other three Wiltshire teams.

Chippenham Park suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Ashton & Blackwell, going down 6-1 away at the Lancer Scott Stadium. Thomas McCulloch netted for Park as they stayed 16th.

Devizes Town lost 2-0 at home to Welton Rovers while Warminster Town were beaten 3-2 away at Portishead Town.