FA CUP: Chippenham Town 3 Mangotsfield United 1 (From This Is Wiltshire)

Chippenham Town are in the hat for the draw of the second qualifying round of the FA Cup after they got past Mangotsfield United earlier today.

The Bluebirds ran out comfortable winners but they did end their afternoon with ten men after Ashley Williams was sent off late in the second half.

After a quiet opening period, Lee Phillips and Scott Rogers combined to set up James Guthrie midway through the first half, but he shot wide.

Phillips attempted to catch out Mangotsfield keeper Danny Greaves with a speculative long-range effort while Shaun Lamb volleyed inches wide from a Scott Lye corner on 27 minutes.

Then, with seven minutes of the first period remaining, the Bluebirds finally made the breakthrough when Lye picked up the ball on the left flank and whipped a perfectly-weighted cross into the area for Rogers to rise and nod home his first goal for Chippenham.

The Bluebirds almost doubled their lead shortly afterwards when Rogers smartly played in Guthrie but his effort was saved at point-blank range by Greaves.

Nathan Rudge’s side burst out of the traps after half-time, with Phillips having a shot saved in the first minute but Mangotsfield came close to levelling the scores a few minutes later when Matt Thorne curled a free-kick onto the crossbar from the left flank.

At the other end, Iain Harvey flashed a shot wide of the target and then in the 51st minute, Chippenham did make it 2-0.

Phillips chased down a long clearance after a Mangotsfield attack and keeper Greaves rushed out of his goal to challenge the Bluebirds striker.

Phillips nodded the ball forwards and it hit the visiting keeper before dropping behind him, leaving the Chippenham man with an empty goal to roll the ball into.

The home side continued to attack and Luke Ballinger scooped an effort wide before Lamb burst forward and jinked past a host of challenges before firing a tame shot into the hands of Greaves.

In the 67th minute, the Bluebirds got their third when Lye put Ballinger in on goal with a fantastic through ball and the winger fired across the face of goal and into the side-netting.

The visitors did finally have something to shout about in the 75th minute when they pulled a goal back through winger Charlie Rich, who collected the ball before shifting to his right and curling a low shot past a sprawling Conor Thomspon.

And just minutes later, Mangotsfield almost set up a tense finale when Rich’s cross was headed goalwards by Kyle Thomas, who saw his angled effort strike the outside of the Chippenham post.

With four minutes of normal time remaining, Rudge’s side were down to ten men after Williams, who had impressed in the centre of defence, was penalised after sticking out an arm to challenge Mangotsfield’s Ryan Bath as he raced towards goal.

Williams was adjudged to have been the last man by referee Adrian Tranter and was shown a straight red card.

The visitors’ Josh Klein-Davies did volley an effort wide in the closing stages while at the other end, Dean Griffiths drove the ball back from the byline and keeper Greaves palmed away a close-range effort from Rogers.

CHIPPENHAM TOWN: Conor Thompson, Toby Osman, Shaun Lamb, Ashley Williams, Steve Casey (Alex Kite 70), Iain Harvey, Luke Ballinger (Dean Griffiths 71), Scott Rogers, Scott Lye (Brandon Barnes 73), James Guthrie, Lee Phillips.

Subs not used: Alan Griffin, Josh Egan, Dave Gilroy, Richard Fey.

Attendance: 303