Pete Tscherewik (words) & Stefan Willoughby (pics) at HQ
THE Magpies claimed a hugely important three points by downing fellow playoff chasers Kidderminster Harriers at the Chorley Group Victory Park Stadium.
Jon Ustabaşı got Chorley off to the best possible start, firing home acrobatically after Adam Blakeman’s long throw had been flicked on by a defender after 14 minutes.
Connor Hall very nearly doubled the Magpies’ lead minutes later, heading just over the bar before Shane Byrne hit a long-range effort straight at Matt Urwin.
Harriers began to grow into the contest as the clock ticked towards half-time and Alex Penny somehow failed to score as he could only hit the post from three-yards.
Russ Penn’s side looked to come out of the blocks quickly after the restart but struggled to create any chances to test Urwin in goal.
Matters were made worse for the visitors after 67 minutes when Nathaniel Knight-Percival received a second yellow card for an off the ball incident, just two minutes after his first booking for a scuffle with Billy Whitehouse.
Kidderminster still continued to look for a late equaliser but Chorley stood firm, as they had done throughout the game, and held on resiliently to claim a big win off the back of a 17th clean sheet of the season.
Chorley Urwin (c); Henley, Smith, Wilson, Nolan, Whitehouse, Calveley, Sampson, Ustabaşı (Johnson, 90’+2), Blakeman (Leather, 83′), Hall (Shenton, 80′). Subs not used: Kay, Scarborough.
Kidderminster Dibble; Penny, Richards (Freemantle, 85′), Knight-Percival, Pearce, Morgan-Smith, Hemmings (Owen-Evans, 47′), Brown, Morrison, Bearne, Byrne (c). Subs not used: Palmer, Foulkes, Lissimore.
It’s a big three points. We had to dig deep, as we always do, especially against a full time side, but we got the result we wanted in the end – Andy Preece
HT 1-0
Goals (assists) Ustabaşı 14′ (Whitehouse) | None
Cautions Whitehouse 65′, Smith 67′ | Knight-Percival 65′ & 67′, Byrne 67′, Bearne 75′
Dismissals None | Knight-Percival 67′
Crowd 795
Officials David McNamara | Curtis Wood & Scott Henry
Next Up
The second of three straight at HQ – Buxton the visitors on Saturday. Tickets online or at the turnstiles – £15 Adults | £12 65+/Concessions | £7 17-20s | £5 12-16s | FREE Accompanied u12s
