A LEWIS Powell penalty four minutes from time sent Chippenham Town through to the next round of the FA Cup after a game which was a little too close for comfort for the home side.

After drawing 0-0 at Banbury on Saturday, the two sides met in the replay on Tuesday evening and looked set to be a one-sided affair when Scott Lye put the Bluebirds in front with a tap-in on seven minutes.

The visitors raised their game however and restored the lead on 21 minutes when Ross Adams failed to cut out a through ball and Jason Taylor evaded Steve Casey’s challenge before lobbing Chris Snoddy from the edge of the area.

A swirling wind made life difficult for both sides but Sam Allison quickly restored Chippenham’s lead with a close-range header on 27 minutes following a corner from Jon Davies.

James Martin, who has barely featured this season but was the best player on the pitch in both games, almost created a third when he set up Shaun Benison ten minutes later.

Chippenham were troubled early in the second half when David Stone hooked over th bar from close range and Casey cleared a ball off the line.

Manager Adie Mings surprised supporters by sending on defender Greg Tindle for attacker Jon Davies on 70 minutes and his effort to close the game out backfired when Ben Milner equalised on 82 minutes.

Adams had to limp off with a foot injury to be replaced by Kyle Bassett soon after. But the Welshman barely had time to impress when Allison won a penalty shortly after, which Powell calmly converted to clinch a home tie against Merthyr Tydfil.

“To play and have an opportunity to get my game on the go is what’s most pleasing,” said man-of-the-match Martin. “To know that I’m not behind everyone is good.

“I wasn’t down here for a lot of the pre-season so I was concerned I would be a bit behind but I don’t think I am.”

He added, “Our passing did perhaps get a bit wayward in the second half but we deserved it over the two games I believe.

“On Saturday there was nothing massively clear-cut from either side but if anything we were on top of them.

Playing in the middle of that game I didn’t feel like either team was going to get a winner but I thought, if anyone, possibly we might edge it. I always felt more quality would come from us in the in today’s game and we would get the win.”

Chippenham will host Merthyr in the next round on Saturday, September 26.

Chippenham Town: Snoddy, Adams (Bassett 82), Lamb, Williams, Casey, Martin, Lye, Benison, Powell. Davies (Tindle 70), Allison. Subs not used: Gardner, Klukowski, Hussey.