MARK Collier believes his Chippenham Town side are reaping the rewards of hard work after they drew 3-3 at home to Hampton and Richmond Borough in National League South on Saturday.

The Bluebirds have now collected four points from their last two game but would have made it six out of six at weekend if they had managed to prevent the visitors' late equaliser.

James Guthrie got things moving for the home side when he notched in the 24th minute to hand Town a narrow lead at the interval.

Chippenham were pegged back on the hour mark before conceding again seven minutes later.

Collier’s troops were soon back level when Alex Ferguson added his name to the scoresheet before Andy Sandell converted from the spot to give them a 3-2 lead.

Although the comeback looked complete, it wasn’t to be for Town as the visitors struck deep into injury time to snatch a late point.

Despite the draw feeling like a defeat, Collier says he has been pleased with the reaction from his team after discussing their season following a disappointing defeat to Poole Town late last month.

“I’m delighted with the point but it could have been three. As you can imagine, I had a very disappointed dressing room,” said Collier.

“It felt like a loss considering we played so well against one of the top three sides in the league. Overall, I think we deserved to win the game.

“We were disappointed but I’m glad we are disappointed with a point after playing a team who will be in the top three at the end of the season.

“We had a very poor performance against Poole a few weeks ago and we were all disappointed with that.

“After sitting down and having a chat about it, we decided we needed to work harder and do more, which is what we have managed to do.”

Collier’s outfit have picked up six points in their last four games at Hardenhuish Park, which the Chippenham boss is more than pleased with.

With draws against high-flying Dartford and Braintree Town prior to this weekend, he thinks it is important that his players now try to replicate this form on the road.

“I speak to other managers and they think Chippenham is a difficult place to come. We have to make sure that they don’t disappoint them on that front,” he added.

“We didn’t on Saturday. We seem to be a resolute bunch in the last six to eight weeks and we have got ourselves back into games.

“We need to replicate this form and intensity away from home. If we can do that, then we will pick up some points on the road as well.

“There appears to be a real intensity in the dressing room, which is pleasing to see.”