Chippenham Town 1, Cheshunt 1

THE rainbow over Hardenhuish Park brought an explosion of colour to an otherwise dull afternoon on Saturday as Chippenham lost touch with their promotion rivals.

There was certainly no pot of gold on offer for Darren Perrin as his Bluebirds slipped to a second disappointing draw with lowly Cheshunt in the space of two weeks. Dave Gilroy's sensational equaliser after 69 minutes was the only highlight of a surprisingly timid affair between two sides desperate for three points for vastly different reasons.

Expectations were high among the 578 spectators as Chippenham began the day just one point behind league leaders Salisbury, who faced a difficult trip to Banbury United. But as referee Andrew Laver brought proceedings to a close at 4.50pm, news filtered round the ground that Salisbury, Bath and King's Lynn had all won to compound an afternoon of frustration for the Hardenhuish faithful.

Had Alan Griffin rediscovered the Midas touch that earned him a comeback goal last Saturday, Chippenham would have been celebrating their 15th home win of the Southern League season. Griffin headed wide three times in a first half which was dominated by the hosts, but which finished 1-0 to the visitors.

Gilroy looked lively throughout and his goal-bound effort after 18 minutes was bravely blocked by Cheshunt defender Anthony Fenton. For 39 minutes Cheshunt barely ventured beyond the half-way line until a long ball by Dave Whattley was headed down by George Gregoriou for strike partner Dean Fenton, who side-footed past an unsighted Steve Perrin.

Debutant Matthew Day looked confident alongside Matthew McEntagart in the centre of the Chippenham defence, but a slip by the on-loan Portsmouth defender almost gifted Cheshunt a second goal after the interval.

Day got caught in the boggy terrain and the ball looped into the path of Steve Obeng, who also fell foul of the mud as he was poised to pull the trigger.

Matt Rawlins replaced Alan Griffin after 60 minutes and it was his clever flick that presented Gilroy with the space to fire a stunning equaliser beyond Martin Peat from 25 yards. But Chippenham failed to capitalise on Gilroy's 23rd league goal of the season and Peat was not severely tested again in the closing stages.

A speculative volley by Darren Wheeler and a scuffed strike from Gilroy was all the Blues could muster in the closing stages.