Chorley 1
Nantwich Town 0
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Chorley 1 -0 Nantwich Town
Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division – 10th December 2011
Nantwich’s Rod McDonald saw red as the Dabbers fell to a 1-0 defeat at the Chorley Group Victory Park Stadium. McDonald, who signed for the Dabbers in November, was booked twice in five minutes, summing up a miserable afternoon for Jimmy Quinn’s men who went down to a first half Steve Foster strike.
Nantwich made four changes to the side that lost to Newcastle Town on Tuesday with McDonald, Mat Bailey, Matt Lowe and Tom Urwin all returning. It was the Lancashire outfit who started the brighter; Chris Denham went close on ten minutes as he latched onto Wayne Maden’s long ball and forced a sharp save from Jonny Brain. Chorley continued to press and Dale Whitham thought he had broken the deadlock just before the half hour mark. The midfielder’s header beat Brain but crashed against the post after good interplay with Denham. The Dabbers created chances of their own and they were inches away from taking the lead themselves as Ben Mills nodded Urwin’s cross past Russ Saunders and onto the top of the crossbar.
The Magpies took the lead on 37 minutes, Mark Ross’ free-kick from inside his own half was headed across goal by Maden and volleyed home by Foster from point blank range.
Nantwich found it difficult to break down the organised Chorley defence and they were restricted to long range efforts in the second. Sean Cooke twice forced a save from Saunders and Dave MacPherson blasted McDonald’s cut back over from the edge of the area. Any hopes of a comeback were dinted when McDonald was sent off with 18 minutes to go. The central defender was booked first for a foul on Foster and then for a push on the Chorley striker leaving his manager with more problems as the Dabbers searched for the equaliser. Cooke again tested Saunders in the closing stages but a lack of clear cut chances proved to be the decisive factor in a defeat which leaves Nantwich needing a run of victories over the Christmas period to stay in touch with the playoffs.
Chorley: Saunders, Ross, Brown, Teague (C), Maden, Whitham, Roscoe, Flitcroft, Denham (Cunliffe, 63), Foster (Proya, 80), Williams (Bowen, 83). Subs: Russell, Porter
Nantwich: Brain, Lowe, Solovjovs, MacPherson, Bailey, McDonald, Cooke, Flynn (C) (Maguire, 79), Mills (Foster, 73), Lennon, Urwin. Subs: Jack, Summerskill, Mitchell.
Attendance: 766

Match report written by Ashley Houghton