MARK Collier was proud to see his Chippenham Town side involved in a top-quality clash with fellow high-fliers Weymouth on Tuesday, which reaffirmed his belief that the Bluebirds are sailing in the right direction.

Collier’s men came from a goal down to earn a hard-fought point against the Terras at Hardenhuish Park, leaving the two teams locked on 27 points in the play-off positions, with Chippenham having suffered just one defeat in their last 13 outings.

Ex- Frome Town full-back Mark Cooper cut inside onto his left foot and wrong-footed Bluebirds goalie Kent Kauppinen with a dipping strike in the 61st minute but the hosts got their equaliser seven minutes later when Conor McCormack’s curling cross was thumped home by the head of Oli Taylor, who grabbed his second goal in three games.

Collier was in little doubt that a draw was a fair and valuable result.

“I think that it was one of the best games seen at Hardenhuish for some time. It was a fantastic advert for Southern League football and I was proud to see us play a part in it,” said the Chippenham manager.

“They were on top for the first 15-20 minutes and then we came back into it. There were chances at both ends and both keepers made saves.

“There was a bit of fortuitousness about their goal because Kent has been wrong-footed as the ball has come through a crowd of bodies but then Oli Taylor has scored a great header from a McCormack cross.

“At the end of the game, there were a lot of exhausted bodies out there, which shows just how much the players put into it.

“A draw was a fair result and it’s important to not lose against your peers in similar positions.

“I think the league table is beginning to take shape but I still think there’ll be around 10 teams looking to get in those play-off positions - we want to try and stay in the top five and we’ll assess the table again at Christmas.

“The start to the season has been great. We’ve not lost many games and we’ve been able to attract players of the quality of Chrissy Allen and (Andy) Sandell, which shows the ambitions we have.”