CHIPPENHAM Town chief Mark Collier could not fault his players’ effort despite seeing them slip to a 2-0 defeat at Truro City on Tuesday night.

The Bluebirds found themselves behind inside five minutes as Matt White fired fourth-in-the-table Truro in front.

Chippenham soon began to grow into the match but their hopes took a big dent when Ed Palmer doubled the home side’s lead from the penalty spot in the second half.

Collier’s side then wasted the chance to get back into the game when they were awarded a spot-kick of their own, with Ashan Holgate denied by keeper Charlie Burns.

And the Bluebirds’ race was run in the dying minutes as they were reduced to ten men when Greg Tindle was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

Boss Collier said: “I was quite pleased with the performance level and there was very little between the sides.

“They scored early on but after about 15 minutes we got a foothold in the game and we were disappointed not to be level by half-time.

“Again in the second half we looked promising but didn’t make the most of our chances and then when we conceded a penalty it was always going to be tough.

“You never know what could happen if we’d score our penalty. If it’s one goal then you think you’re always going to get a chance and you can throw men forward for set-pieces, but it wasn’t to be.”

The defeat completes a tough run of three games on the coast in eight days for the Bluebirds, all against high-flying opposition.

They were beaten 3-1 at current table toppers Poole Town last Tuesday but were 1-0 winners at then leaders Weymouth over the weekend.

“Someone said to me if we’d got three draws from these games we’d be delighted and although we’ve finished with the same total points wise there’s a tinge of disappointment having put in such a good performance at Weymouth,” added Collier.

“Overall we’ve had a decent start to this year and there’s lots of promise.”

Chippenham now have back-to-home games, starting against Dunstable Town on Saturday before Biggleswade Town visit Hardenhuish Park on Tuesday.

Collier said: “Dunstable will be a difficult game. They had a good result at Arlesey on Saturday after a bit of a sticky run.

“When we played them earlier in the season they were outstanding and I thought they’d go on to win the league.

“Things haven’t quite worked out like that and we’re expecting to see a few changes to the side we faced before.”

Defenders Conor McCormack and John Beeden are set to miss this weekend’s game with hamstring and back problems respectively but the Bluebirds will otherwise have a fully-fit squad.

Collier added: “Gone are the days when we had five or six out, now it’s just two so we are slowly getting back to full strength.”