Evesham Utd 0, Chippenham Tn 2

AS if the absence of suspended trio Richard Ball, Lee Knight and Steve Duncan and the departure of captain Gavin O'Toole wasn't enough, injuries also prevented ever-present Anthony Watson and goalkeeper Dave Adey taking to the field against a side that went to the top of the table after Saturday's victory.

Evesham took to the field with just of the players who had played in the earlier Southern League encounter in Wiltshire last September and one of them Leon Blake was made captain.

Blake again epitomised the spirit in the Common Road camp but the Robins were undone by two cracking strikes at the start of the each half.

What you don't want to do in Evesham's present predicament is to concede an early goal and it was the Premier Division's top scorer David Gilroy who took his tally to 20 with a 20-yard volley that left Chris Taylor rooted to the spot.

Stalwart

That was Gilroy's only effort on goal thanks to the stalwart efforts of Steve Hands, Steve Luckett and Adam Blake and it was United who had the best of the first half chances.

Jamie Bailey was agonisingly short of reaching Rob Taylor's seventh minute free-kick, while the latter's trickery let in Shane Benjamin but his left-foot shot nine minutes before the break was blocked the legs of Town goalkeeper Steve Perrin.

The same part of Chris Taylor's body came to Evesham's rescue after 43 minutes but the home keeper was again helpless a minute into the second period when Ben Kirk volleyed in from 20 yards to double Chippenham's advantage.

When Rob Taylor hobbled off on the hour and Rawlins was handed a gilt-edged chance to make it 3-0, Taylor the keeper produced a magnificent diving stop to at least keep the hosts in the game.

However, they spurned a great chance to test the nerves of the far from impressive tabletoppers when Benjamin knocked down a cross from substitute Joel Skyers but Bailey's shot was saved.

Luckett made life easier for the custodian with a tame volley a minute later, while Skyers found far more power with a similar effort but the drive lacked direction.

Taylor again denied Rawlins from point-blank range nine minutes from time when a third goal would have been extremely harsh on the game hosts who can take heart from another spirited show.