Chippenham got their South West Two East campaign back on track with a 19-13 win at Abbey that ended a run of five away matches without a win.
The Wiltshire side fought back from a half-time defecit to take a well-deserved win in Reading.
Abbey's forwards revel in the confines of the narrow Rose Hill ground and to counter this, Ian McNerlin returned on the blind side for Chippenham replacing Gary Squires while Matt Spurway replaced Gary Champion at outside centre.
Winger Darren McMillan was nursing a minor shoulder injury which allowed James Barnard to return as full-back.
Barnard immediately signalled his return with an early penalty but this was cancelled out and Abbey took the lead when they won the race to a kick-ahead for a converted try.
Barnard then missed two penalty kicks but despite this, Chippenham came back and Barnard finally landed his fourth attempt to leave his side trailing 10-6 at the break.
Chippenham's defence held the upper hand after the break, continually harrying Abbey into handling errors.
Barnard kicked a third penalty and, on 60 minutes, Chippenham finally broke through and crossed the Abbey line.
A break from halfway by winger Eddie Smith, combining well with scrum-half Tim Dunford, presented captain Rupert Crockett with a clear run to the line.
Barnard converted and added a penalty minutes later to put Chippenham into the lead for the first time.
Prop Terry May was replaced through injury and this enforced change seemed to unsettle Chippenham's game.
It was during this period Abbey took advantage but they blew a great opportunity and managed just one further penalty to reduce the defecit to 19-13.
Team: Newson, Baker, May (King), Todd, Thornton, McNerlin, Sherratt (G. Squires), Coope, Dunford, Lloyd, Smith (Barnes), Crockett (capt), Spurway, Trewartha, Barnard.
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