BRACKNELL Town's Isthmian League campaign got off to a disappointing start with a 2-0 defeat at Chipstead on Saturday, both goals coming in the second half, writes Dave Wright.

Only two of last season's regulars were in the starting line-up, goalkeeper Mark Scott and Seb Bowerman, while Joe Gater was on the bench.

There was a general lack of cohesion in the Robins' play, but manager Sam Lock says it will take time for his new-look side to gel together.

Bowerman saw his early effort saved by keeper Oliver Pain, and Shane Cooper-Clark went even closer to scoring.

His 25-yard free-kick struck the underside the crossbar before being gathered by a relieved Pain, who shortly afterwards moved smartly off his line to whip the ball off the toes of Nicholas Bignall.

In front of a crowd of 112, Robins finished the half strongly, but had a close escape early in the second half when their crossbar was rattled by Josh Gallagher.

With a three-man backline, Bracknell were getting caught out down the flanks and that led to them falling behind in the 57th minute.

They failed to deal with a cross from Tom Collins and the ball fell to Callum Hart, who pushed the ball over the line from close range.

Lock reacted to seeing his side fall behind by sending on Dan Carr and Nathan Minhas in place of Geoff Kibaki and Bignall.

However, it didn't have the desired effect as the Surrey side doubled their lead in the 68th minute through Dan Moody, who earlier had forced Scott into making a save at full stretch.

Robins were not far away from pulling a goal back when centre-back Justin Clayton moved upfield to head Caden Genovesi's corner just wide, while further chances fell to Cooper-Clark, who struck the woodwork again, Carr and Bowerman, but they either sailed wide or were saved by Pain.

Despite the defeat, there were a number of positives to emerge from the game, enabling Bracknell to go into their opening home fixture against Uxbridge last night (Tuesday) with some confidence.

Bracknell travel to Wessex League side Bournemouth FC in the preliminary round of the FA Cup this Saturday and, providing a replay is not required, they will visit Northwood in the league on Monday (3pm).