THE BLUEBIRDS’ well-earned three points against Hereford United could well end up counting for nothing – but Chippenham Town chief Mark Collier says his side had no choice but to take care of the task at hand on Tuesday night.

Goals from defender Jon Beeden and half-time substitute Alex Ferguson earned Collier’s men a 2-1 victory over the ten-man Bulls at Hardenhuish Park.

The result could end up being expunged, with crisis club Hereford due to face a repeatedly-delayed winding-up order on October 20.

Despite that, the Chippenham manager was left to reflect on a second successive home victory.

“It seems like there have been rumours about Hereford United for the last two years and it seems that they’re fighting for their lives at the moment but we had to concentrate on winning the game,” said Collier.

“They started particularly well and they’ve got plenty of pace in their side and I think they’ll cause a few shocks to a few sides in the division. But although 2-1 looks close, it was quite a comfortable win for us.

“We were a bit disappointed not to be ahead at half-time but we rectified that and the red card did have a bearing on the game but we continued to move the ball around well – we absolutely deserved it.”

In the first half, the benefit of full-time training showed as the young Hereford team, containing players from afar afield as Spain, Holland and Jamaica, were quick to close Chippenham down.

But on 54 minutes, the visitors’ Joshua Oyibo was shown a straight red card for a high tackle on Conor McCormack and three minutes later, Ferguson pulled the ball back for Beeden to strike home from the edge of the area.

Bilal Yafai’s 30-yard shot deflected off a home defender and looped into the net to level things up but the winning goal came five minutes from time when Luke Ballinger’s shot hit a post and midfielder Ferguson converted the loose ball.

Iain Harvey looks set to miss tomorrow’s clash with Corby Town at Hardenhuish Park with a knee ligament strain whilst fellow midfielder Jordan Roberts will be assessed after being forced off against Hereford with a slight concussion.