MANAGER Mark Collier admits confidence within the Chippenham Town camp has taken a hit after a third successive defeat saw them knocked out of the FA Cup in the second qualifying round away at lower league Weymouth.

The Bluebirds had failed to find the back of the net en route to losing their previous two National League South matches and that pattern continued against the Terras as the visitors went down 2-0.

Weymouth are no strangers to Town, with the two having been rivals in Southern League Premier Division for many years prior to the Bluebirds’ promotion last season.

Although well aware that a tough test lay in store, Collier still fancied his side’s chances of progressing but come the final whistle conceded that they simply did not play well enough.

“It wasn’t a great draw for us but we are the league above and we have been playing fairly well so I was quite confident that we could go there and win the game,” said Collier.

“We played OK and I said to the players afterwards that with the stage we are at now, OK is not good enough for Chippenham Town.

“We have got several players low on confidence and I may have to take the opportunity to take them out of the firing line, if I am honest.

“The games programme has been fairly relentless with no breaks at all but saying that, a lot of other teams have been in the same situation and we have to concentrate on getting it right.”

Chippenham were not at their best throughout the afternoon at the Bob Lucas Stadium and Charlie Davis put the home side ahead midway through the first half.

The Bluebirds’ hopes then began to fade fast after the restart as former Town player Mark Cooper came back to haunt his old club, netting a crucial second for Weymouth just five minutes into the second period.

Although Collier did not feel the performance was a total write-off, slack play at both ends of the pitch proved to be their downfall.

“Poor defending and poor decision making ultimately cost us, in truth,” said Collier.

“Weymouth played quite well. They played as the away team almost, hitting us on the counter. They had limited chances but when they came along, they took them.

“Without playing that well, we still had that nous and cutting edge to create chances but we didn’t take them and a combination of not taking your chances and sloppy defending means you pay the ultimate price.”