Chippenham Town's FA Cup jinx struck again on Saturday as Tommy Saunders' men were humbled by Weymouth.

Ten-man Town slumped to an embarrassing 4-1 home defeat, crashing out of the competition in the second qualifying round the same stage that has claimed their scalp in the previous two seasons.

After going in level at the break, a 47th-minute Weymouth goal and the dismissal of Tom Gould effectively ended Chippenham's dreams of making the first round proper.

The defeat also cost the Town coffers £7,500 in prize money.

Saunders' men made most of the early running and Charlie Griffin fluffed a brace of openings before the hosts were caught by the pace of Lee Phillips on seven minutes.

The highly-rated forward gave a semi-fit Shane Andrews a torrid afternoon.

He soon broke free from his struggling marker and rounded keeper James Bittner before netting from an acute angle.

Town were shocked, but regained their composure and spurned a couple of half chances before Martin Paul restored parity on 29 minutes.

Steve Brown wriggled free on the left and crossed to Paul who confidently stroked home his sixth of the season.

The two sides played out a 1-1 draw at Hardenhuish in a league encounter less than a month ago.

With the sides level at half time, an equally tight contest looked likely, but Chippenham capitulated after the interval.

Tom Jones converted Ian Hutchinson's free-kick within 90 seconds of the restart and Chippenham were reeling.

Then came the pivotal flashpoint which ruined Saunders' day.

Jones span clear of Gould, and the 20-year-old centre-back was forced to haul him down as he beared down on Bittner's goal.

Gould was given his marching orders and Michael Dean coolly dispatched the spotkick and Chippenham's cup run was about to come to a premature end.

Saunders went for broke, and threw on forwards Adie Mings and Matt Rawlins.

Mings made an immediate impact, sending a drive against the woodwork before having a decent penalty appeal turned down.

Brown and Griffin again spurned good chances as Town desperately poured forward.

Weymouth hit with an inevitable late counter when Simon Charity mis-controlled and Phillips picked up the pieces to fire home his second.

"Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed with the result," said Saunders. "I thought we played okay in the first half. We were all over them at times.

"We were caught out be Lee Phillips, who I warned the players about. But we've equalised and gone in 1-1. Then we started off the second half like school kids and in the end we got a hammering."

Saunders conceded that Gould's sending-off and the resulting penalty proved decisive.

"Tom's been brilliant for us this season, but he was turned on the edge of the box and naively pulled the man down. He got a red card, and with an hour gone we might as well have gone home."

Chippenham: Bittner, Robinson, Thorne, Gould, Andrews, Badman, Brown, Harrington, Paul, Griffin, Charity. Subs: Towler,Mings, Rawlins (not used - Harris, Thompson)

Attendance: 917

The Bluebirds have completed the signing of Bath City utility man Gary Horgan. The former Supermarine and Cirencester star will be in contention for a starting place against Moor Green on Saturday.