CHIPPENHAM Town boss Mark Collier says a case of mis-identification could have cost them three National League South points as the Bluebirds lost 2-0 away to Chelmsford City.

Curtis McDonald was sent off for the visitors after he collected two bookings in the opening 45 minutes.

For the first, goalkeeper Jared Thompson explained to the referee that he was the man guilty of committing the offence, only for the referee to book McDonald.

The second time around, McDonald gave away a penalty which earned him a second yellow card and an early bath.

Chris Dickson slotted the ball past Thompson from the spot in the 43rd minute, as the hosts took a 1-0 lead into the interval.

The second half was largely positive for the Bluebirds, but they were unable to find a way back into the game and conceded for the second time in the 78th minute.

“The result didn’t really reflect the performance, there were a couple of incidents which changed the course of the game,” said Collier.

“There was a coming together of people and Jared fouled their striker and the referee gave the yellow card to Curtis McDonald.

“Jared told him it was him, but the referee still gave the card to Curtis. Then Curtis gave away a penalty, which was a bit harsh but it was a second yellow card which equalled a red card.

“As it turned out, we were 1-0 down and down to 10 men, so it was a difficult one for us to take.”

Even though his side fell to another defeat, which continued their recent poor form, Collier was happy with the display, especially after their lacklustre midweek performance against Poole Town.

The Chippenham chief now thinks his troops have set the bar for the rest of the campaign, starting with Saturday’s home clash with Bognor Regis Town.

“Their goalkeeper made some great saves, so we definitely created the better chances in the second half,” he added.

“I did say to the players afterwards, that was the standard. If we can produce that for the rest of the season then we won’t have any problems.

“There is a lot of praise for the performance yesterday and they deserved it, the application was spot on.

“Bognor is a big game now, they are all big games. We are decent at home and we will start that game as favourites.

“I imagine it will be a thriller or a boring 0-0 draw.”