A 73rd-minute penalty from Matt McClure at Hardenhuish Park gave us another defeat which left our National League South status hanging by a thread.
The Chippenham skipper sent Will Buse the wrong way to score the only goal in the game, after Jordon Thompson brought down substitute Tom Owen-Evans inside the box.
It was enough for the referee to send our centre-back off, who had already sent off opposition midfielder Leone Gravata just before half-time.
But even with us having an extra man for a portion of the second half, we couldn’t break down Gary Horgan’s side as our unbeaten run versus the Wiltshire winners extends to seven games.
The result left huge implications for our season – a loss at home to Slough Town this weekend will see us officially relegated to the Southern Premier League Division One South.
With six games remaining, a premature demotion would cap off what has been an extraordinarily tough season for us.
STRONG START
As we have often said after our losses, we started the match brightly, enjoying much of the chances in the first half.
We could have taken the lead just a minute in when skipper Tom Bearwish headed straight at goalkeeper Will Henry
The Chippenham shot-topper kept out our next chance 11 minutes later, keeping out Malachi Linton from close-range with two quick successive saves.
Gravata’s strike was blocked moments before the 20-minute mark, before we struck back after 25 minutes.
We were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box, Jake McCarthy stepping up to take it.
The midfield veteran hit the ball under the wall, hitting the target but being kept out by Henry in the process.
Ben Greenwood almost picked out Linton with a cross eight minutes before added time, but there would be a much more significant moment as the half drew to its close.
Linton took advantage of an error by Gravata, who then ran through on-goal before being tripped by the Chippenham midfielder.
It was a last-man foul, which resulted in a subsequent red card, reducing the hosts to 10 men just before half-time.
It could have been even worse for The Bluebirds just seconds afterwards, although McCarthy’s free-kick hit the side-netting.
SECOND-HALF SETBACK
Although we had a chance four minutes in when Brooklyn Genesini’s free-kick delivery flew over the bar, the second half began slowly.
Both sides were tussling for the ball, spending most of their time intercepting loose passes rather than attacking at goal.
Our first notable opportunity came five minutes after the hour-mark, when Linton was played through via a clearance, although he would fire wide inside the box.
But as the game remained fairly uneventful, it suddenly wasn’t.
Substitute Owen-Evans, brought on just moments earlier, was tripped inside the box by Thompson, whose genuine attempt to reach the ball wasn’t enough to prevent the referee from awarding a penalty.
It also wasn’t enough to prevent a red card, leaving both sides with 10 men as we were now at risk of going a goal down.
Which is what happened.
Chippenham skipper McClure sent Buse the wrong way to give the hosts a 1-0 lead, and gave us a mountain to climb.
Linton’s pass was then deflected into the hands of Henry, as time began to run out.
We did have more chances in the minutes leading up to stoppage time, as substitute Brandon Goodship, back from injury, had the chance to equalise but fired over the bar.
McCarthy had a chance to equalise three minutes into stoppage time, although his shot similarly fired over as our struggles, as they have all season, continue…
