THE Magpies weathered a heavy Brackley storm to come away from St James Park with a valuable point.
The game started at quite a lazy pace with little action in the opening 15 minutes, aside a half chance for Billy Whitehouse that Danny Lewis in the Brackley goal saved well down low.
A sustained period of low-level home pressure followed, but debutant Steve Drench remained untested through the 30 minute mark, despite close efforts from Shepherd Murombedzi and Gareth Dean.
Then, as the pressure continued, Adam Henley and Callum Stead tussled in the area, a spot kick was awarded and Levi Amantchi smashed home from 12 yards to give the home side a 35th minute lead.
Within six minutes of the restart the Magpies were level. A first quick break of the afternoon saw Jack Sampson turn Dean before being impeded while shooting. It didn’t matter, however, as Connor Hall was on hand to stab home while being taken out by both Glenn Walker and goalkeeper Lewis.
The hosts were stunned by the equaliser and struggled in the aftermath to create any clear cut opportunities, despite continuing to hold most of the possession.
Livewire winger Cosmos Matwasa did get an opening 15 minutes from time, but was denied by a superb goal-line Scott Wilson clearance. Drench was then called upon to take flight and deny sub Sam Smart, as the home side pushed forward in the final 10.
But the Magpies stood firm to extend their unbeaten away streak in the league to seven games.
Brackley Lewis; Carline, Walker, Murombedzi, Calder, Dean (c), Matwasa, Richards (Woods, 79′), Amantchi, Yussuf (Rooney, 64′), Stead (Smart, 79′). Subs not used: Armson, Cullinane-Liburd.
Chorley Urwin; Henley, Smith, Leather (c) (Wilson, 46′), Nolan, Whitehouse, Calveley, Sampson, Ustabaşı (Johnson, 77′), Blakeman (c), Hall (Britton, 81′). Subs not used: Shenton, Kay.
I couldn’t have complained if we’d have got beaten today but we did really well to dig in and the point is a really good one – Andy Preece
HT 1-0
Goals (assists) Amantchi 35′ (pen) | Hall 51′
Cautions None | Henley 34′, Sampson 50′
Dismissals None | None
Crowd 607
Officials Gareth Thomas | Matt Jackson & Abdul Kadir
Next Up
The third and final away trip of February – a shorter deal this time as we head for Farsley Celtic next Saturday (3pm); £14 Adults | £9 60+/Students | £5 11-17s | £2 4-10s – online here or on the day.
