CHIPPENHAM Town conceded an 86th-minute penalty as they lost 2-1 to Eastbourne Borough in National League South on Saturday.

A week on from their FA Cup second-round exit to League One Burton Albion, the Bluebirds received a late “sucker punch” as Jordan Young missed a late one-on-one chance seconds before Shiloh Remy converted the winner from the spot.

The first league outing since the 6-1 FA Cup defeat promised so much early on for Chippenham as Alex Bray poked home in just the sixth minute following a spilled Young free-kick.

But Remy slammed home before the break to equalise for Eastbourne, and the same man calmly put the late penalty away after a poor tackle from Will King.

Reacting to the club’s latest defeat, manager Gary Horgan said: “It was a sucker punch for us really, having played so well and generated a number of good chances to win the game.

“The result was disappointing, but the performance was good. I know I keep saying that, and I can’t keep saying it, but that’s the reality of how it’s playing out for us.

“But I’m a firm believer that you make your own luck. We talked about being a bit more ruthless in both boxes.

“We’ve conceded a penalty through a rash challenge and a poor decision. Up the other end, we’ve had a number of chances that we’ve failed to convert.

“You can call that luck, but I think it’s more an issue of us not being ruthless enough.”

Chippenham’s plight will not be made any easier by a home game against the current league leaders and a side which Horgan feels are odds on to gain promotion to the National League come May.

Ebbsfleet United warmed up for Saturday’s trip to the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium by thrashing Worthing 6-0, but Horgan believes the close recent meetings between the pair could give his team the confidence boost they need.

Horgan said: “Every game is a challenge in this league, but Ebbsfleet are fresh off the back of a 6-0 win on Tuesday night and already look like champions-elect this year, so it will be a tough game, no doubt.

“But we’ve got a half-decent record against them in the past three games, managing two draws over 90 minutes. We’ll go out and try to pull out a result which no one expects us to.

“We need to get through this little period. The games don’t get any easier with games against Ebbsfleet, Oxford City, Torquay, Bath and Braintree before the new year.

“We need to start picking up points before we hit the run of home games in January.”