CHIPPENHAM Town had to settle for a solitary National League South point on Boxing Day after they surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to local rivals Bath City.

The Bluebirds were a cut above their visitors early on and striker Nick McCootie gave them the lead at Hardenhuish Park with just 15 minutes on the clock.

Mark Collier’s side then continued to raise the tempo and James Guthrie was able to double the hosts’ advantage just four minutes later.

However, the Romans gave themselves a lifeline before the break as Ross Stearn cut the deficit to a single goal on the half-hour mark.

The two sides were evenly matched in the second half, but a red card for Bath captain Anthony Straker with 14 minutes to go appeared to give Chippenham the advantage to see the game out for victory.

Stearn had other ideas, however, as just four minutes later he netted his second goal of the game to bring Bath back level of the scoreboard and ultimately allow them to make the short trip home with a share of the spoils.

Chippenham are at home again on Saturday as they face Hampton & Richmond Borough at Hardenhuish Park in their final fixture of 2018.