MINEHEAD Town entertained high-flying Chippenham Town at the Recreation Ground on Saturday and the visitors enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 victory.
Last year's losing finalists in the FA Vase underlined their championship aspirations with a 5-3 home win over leaders Taunton Town recently, so the Blues knew they faced a tough task.
Their lack of a regular goalkeeper saw them give local boy Ryan Lobb an opportunity to take part in senior football and he performed well, producing several brave saves at a time when the Wiltshire side threatened to overrun Minehead.
There was little to choose between the two outfits for the opening half an hour, with the visitors content to soak up the home pressure and rely on counter-attacks as a springboard for scoring opportunities.
The first serious raid of the match came after 13 minutes, when Chippenham's leading scorer Steve Tweddle side-footed the ball just wide of the home upright.
Chippenham forced two corners in quick succession after this and a strong shot from Matt Rawlins skipped inches wide, then Mark Cutler was on target but was denied by Lobb, who tipped the ball over the bar.
Chippenham eventually took the lead after 34 minutes when a strong cross by Tweddle found the back of the net via Robbie Hopkins' attempted header to clear.
Four minutes later the visitors had scored again through a header by Matt Rawlins, and he should have scored again shortly after when he was well placed.
On the half-time whistle Simon Charity lofted a clear chance well over the home bar.
Early in the second half a spirited run by Nick Whyborn was spoilt when his centre went behind, and as the game progressed Minehead were unable to make any real inroads into the visitors' well-drilled defence.
For long periods the Blues had to fight a rearguard action as Chippenham camped around their penalty area.
There were several exciting goalmouth melees which Minehead did well to clear, and on the hour, a strong shot by a Chippenham forward crashed against the Minehead bar, the rebound being promptly volleyed back against the bar by another forward.
Minehead produced an encouraging break by Tony Hills as he threatened to haul his team back into contention but his cross-cum-shot was wide of the far post.
After 70 minutes the visitors scored their third goal when an uncharacteristic mistake by Matt Heywood let substitute Dave Bright through to score with a fierce shot only seconds after he had come on.
In the final ten minutes Chippenham forced two corners and a brilliant save by Lobb kept out a certain goal for the visitors.
Minehead: R Lobb, T Hills, L Todd, R Hopkins, M Heywood, D Burr, J Norman, S Perkins, N Whyborn, W Giblett, subs L Nunn, Craig Carr (both used), A Hodgson.