SWINDON Town loanee Scott Twine netted a late free-kick as Chippenham Town came from a goal down to beat St Albans City 2-1 at the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium on Saturday.

Chippenham collected their fourth win in five games and moved up to 14th in National League South while St Albans dropped into the relegation zone.

Despite dominating possession and creating a number of good chances, Chippenham found themselves behind before the break as St Albans’ Tom Bender nodded in at a corner.

Kieran Parselle replied via the same method in the 74th minute before Twine whipped in a free-kick from 30 yards out to give the Bluebirds a deserved three points 13 minutes from time.

Manager Mike Cook spoke of his delight after the game, saying his team arguably should have 15 points from five games instead of just 12.

He said: “I thought we deserved the win – we deserved the win at Welling last week, but we got absolutely nothing from it.

“I was really angry and disappointed last weekend, but this week it just seemed that we got our just desserts.

“We’re creating a lot of chances at the moment, and we’re managing to stick them away which has not always been the case for the first few weeks that I was here.”

Cook revealed how the half-time team talk was a relatively easy one for him and his coaching staff – the Bluebirds boss simply asked his players to calm down and continue playing in their normal style.

Playing down the Hardenhuish Park hill and with the wind in their backs, Chippenham did just that, picking up where they left off and were ultimately rewarded for their efforts with a ninth win of the season.

Cook said: “We told them at half-time not to be angry.

“From our side of things as coaches, we just calmed the lads down because they were a little bit angry for conceding in that manner.

“We knew their left-back was the guy they were going to try and hit from corners, and that’s what we’d worked on in training.

“As a coach, that’s frustrating but Curtis (McDonald) took it on the chin and held his hands up for not picking his man up.

“But what was pleasing was all the lads’ attitudes and their mental approach to the second half.

“They all believed in the system and what we were trying to do – it was a good game to watch, it was entertaining, but thankfully for us we came out on top.”

Chippenham return to action on Saturday when they travel to Oxford City looking for a third win in a row.