TWO Andy Sandell goals at the top and the tail of the match earned Chippenham Town a deserved victory over Bideford last night - their first success against the North Devon side in six attempts.

The Bluebirds were made to work hard for their victory against an experienced side but the opening goal came after just four minutes when the Robins defence failed to deal with a low through ball.

Striker Sandell held off two chasing defenders before drawing out keeper Kyle Moore and slotting the ball past him.

After that, it was the visitors who were mostly on the front foot, with Jordan Charran wasting a glorious opportunity to equalise when he choose to nonchalantly flick at the ball instead of taking his time to shoo, with his effort rolling wide.

Earlier, the young striker had seen a goal-bound shot deflected wide by Mark Preece.

Ashan Holgate’s header was held by Moore whilst Chippenham had two penalty claims waved aside - the first saw a handball in the area go unpunished and the second came just before the break when Alex Ferguson was bundled to the ground in the box.

After half-time, despite kicking up the slope, it was Bideford who proved more threatening. Liam Prynn, on loan from Torquay United, stung Kent Kauppinen’s hands with a low drive. Sean Downing also wasted two good chances as he fired wide and was also denied by Kauppinen.

The final quarter of an hour saw the introduction of Lee Phillips and the balance of the match swung Chippenham’s way.

Matt Jones’s pull-back saw Matt Smith blaze high, whilst Smith’s teasing ball across the six-yard box just evaded Sandell.

Three minutes from, time Phillips was one-on-one with the keeper but shot straight at Moore but in the 88th minute, Jones picked out Sandell and the striker again made no mistake as he buried his shot to the relief and joy of the crowd.

CHIPPENHHAM TOWN: Kent Kauppinen, Conor McCormack (Luke Ballinger 19), Matt Jones, Michael Pook, Greg Tindle, Mark Preece, Alex Ferguson, Matt Smith, Ashan Holgate (Lee Phillips 76), Andy Sandell, James Guthrie.

Subs not used: Ryan Campbell, Iain Harvey, Jon Beeden.

Referee: Alex Blake

Attendance: 235