CHORLEY fell to an agonisingly late defeat to South Shields on Tuesday evening, a 94th minute winning goal from Dylan Stephenson to condemn Andy Preece's side to only their second defeat from the previous nine league games.
South Shields started the better of the two sides with three corners in the opening ten minutes and an early opportunity for the leading goalscorer in the division, Paul Blackett, who just couldn't latch on to the end of Courtney Clarke's whipped cross from the right.
The Mariners then squandered a massive opportunity to hit the front, former Chorley midfielder Martin Smith's free-kick falling perfectly to the feet of Tom Broadbent who couldn't keep his effort down from six-yards and powered the ball over the bar.
Elliott Dickman's side took a deserved lead after 21 minutes though the jury was out inside the 1st Cloud Arena, AARON MARTIN slotting the ball past Max Dearnley after the Chorley defence had almost come to a halt from their own appeals for offside as the goalscorer looked to have mis-timed his run in behind.
Chorley's best opportunity of the half fell to Billy Whitehouse who fortuitously found a route to goal thanks to a slip from Shields' skipper, Blair Adams but the former couldn't direct his shot at goal as it went narrowly wide.
The Magpies came out of the blocks quickly after the restart and had less than three minutes to wait to get themselves back on terms, CARLTON UBAEZUONU reacting quickest of everyone to slam home his 13th goal of the season in all competitions.
Carlton Ubaezuonu celebrates his 13th goal of the season (David Airey)
Andy Preece's side continued to grow in confidence as the clock ticked by, though both sides in truth struggled to test either goalkeeper despite their attacking intent.
With both sides going hell for leather for the winning goal in stoppage time, the Magpies were ultimately left open and after Dearnley made contact with Blackett inside the box, Stephenson made no mistake as the ball came into his path and slotted it home despite efforts to clear the ball off the line.
South Shields: Boney, Clarke, Morse, Broadbent, Adams (C), Briggs, Smith, Heaney, Abbey (Savage, 79'), Blackett, Martin (Stephenson, 79'). Unused: Fletcher, Gomes, Sloan .
Chorley: Dearnley, Donawa, Ellis (C), Smith, Wilson, Nolan, Horbury, Hazlehurst (Calveley, 81'), Whitehouse, Ubaezuonu (Moyo, 75'), Johnson (Maguire, 70'). Unused: Glynn, Shenton.
Goalscorers: Martin (21'), Ubaezuonu (48'), Stephenson (90+4').
Cautions: M. Smith (5'), Hazlehurst (17'), Morse (86'), Dearnley (90+1'), H. Smith (90+5').
Referee: Lewis Dawson.
Assistants: Paul Mosley & Karl Barrow.
Attendance: 1,895.
Up Next: We're BACK AT HOME this Saturday to take on Scarborough Athletic. Don't miss out on this one, grab your tickets ONLINE here for that one: HERE!
