EXASPERATED boss Tom Killick insisted poor playing conditions had helped Chippenham to jolt Poole Town’s push for the Southern League crown.

Ashan Holgate’s fierce low drive settled matters with five minutes to play in a gritty-yet-engaging battle of fortitude at Hardenhuish Park.

It proved the killer blow at the end of a slog dictated by a bumpy surface in which title-chasing Dolphins largely stood firm without asking enough questions of home keeper Kent Kauppinen.

And with their tails up, bristling Chippenham made their high-flying opponents pay on an afternoon which saw Corby Town return to the summit courtesy of a 3-1 win at Bideford.

Poole remain masters of their own destiny with three games in hand to overhaul a two-point deficit but that was of little comfort to Killick after his side’s sixth league defeat of the campaign.

“Without meaning to sound arrogant, I felt we had much better players than they did,” said Killick.

“But as soon as you saw the conditions, you realised there was not going to be too much between the teams.

“The pitch was not just inadequate, it made it impossible to play any football so it came down to a battle of strength and which side could stay resilient and nick a goal.

“To be fair to them, they were physically strong, direct and stuck with it so it suited them down to the ground.

“The best we could have hoped for was to keep a clean sheet and pinch something at the other end because it was very difficult to do anything constructive.

“But we must not deflect too much from the fact that we probably did not do well enough when we got into reasonable areas. I don’t think their goalkeeper had anything significant to do.

“He mopped up through balls and took crosses very well, although the standard of our deliveries did not test him too much which negated any threat we had. It made us fairly ineffective in wide areas and we could have done better.”

Tomorrow’s derby trip to out-of-sorts Dorchester (3pm) is next as Dolphins face the second of three away trips in five days.

Striker Richard Gillespie should be fit to return at the Avenue but Brooks and Burbidge are likely to miss out.

On the injury front, Killick said: “We are pretty certain Gilly will be okay but Marvin and Luke are a bit more of a worry.

“I think we missed them. We didn’t look as potent as an attacking threat as we might have done had two of those three been available.

“The difficulty with Gilly is that he has not played that much football. In the past he has picked up knocks when pushed too hard so whether playing on Monday and Wednesday is manageable, I don’t know.

“As things stand, I would say it is more than likely that Dorchester will come too soon for Marvin and Luke.”