A TACTICAL change at half time that introduced more width to Chippenham Town’s style proved key in their 3-1 victory over 10-man Hungerford on Saturday, according to manager Mark Collier.

The Bluebirds trailed by a goal at half-time after Danilo Orsi-Dadomo put the visitors ahead in the game’s opening 10 minutes.

But a red card for Hungerford’s Cameron Hargreaves turned the game on its head, and a Nat Jarvis brace coupled with Nick McCootie’s late strike ensured Chippenham moved onto 45 league points – five points short of the play-off frame.

It would be presumed that Hungerford’s sending off played its part in Saturday’s result.

But Collier admits he was initially concerned by how the sending off would impact the game – convinced it would encourage Ian Herring’s side to set up camp.

“We didn’t start the game very well to be honest and found ourselves a goal down,” said Collier.

“We knew they (Hungerford) play well on the counter and knew that they would sit in and defend properly.

“They were full of confidence on the back of a 5-0 victory last week (against St Albans), and we were left very disappointed with our first half performance.

“We didn’t believe the red card for them would help us, we thought it would encourage them to sit in more.

“However, our second half performance was a Chippenham Town performance – we moved the ball around quickly and got into good areas.

“It’s always difficult against 10 men, but we scored three goals and left very pleased with our work.”

The Chippenham boss was pleased by the impact of substitute Jack Compton, who he believes changed the game by adding a fresh dimension to his side’s threat.

Compton was deployed on the wing and Hungerford struggled to deal with the former Portsmouth man.

Collier said: “Hungerford do have a lot of pace and can catch you on the break quickly, they break in numbers too.

“We changed things around at half time, we took Carnell Chambers off and brought Jack Compton on.

“Jack hugged the line, we tried to stretch the game and get as much width as we could – and that worked.

“We’re pleased with the win, we’ve got 45 points now and we’re ticking over nicely.”