Pete Tscherewik (words) & Stefan Willoughby (pics) at HQ
THE Magpies moved up to eighth with a hard-fought win over Leamington at the Chorley Group Victory Park Stadium.
Adam Blakeman gave Callum Hawkins an early sighter in goal, his free-kick from 25 yards slamming against the crossbar.
The visitors took 20 minutes to register their first shot of the afternoon and Hawkins continued to be the busier of the two keepers, this time for the wrong reasons – wiping out Connor Hall in the area, the latter then sending him the wrong way from the spot to make it 1-0 after 24 minutes.
Ollie Shenton hit the post with a speculative effort just before the break, Andy Preece’s side having much better of the opening 45 minutes.
Chorley continued to press on after the restart, but Leamington stood firm for the majority, Dan Meredith’s head keeping out Jon Ustabaşı’s volley from a corner.
The Magpies had a couple of shouts for a penalty in the closing stages, all waved away by referee Richard Aspinall – the final chance of the game falling to Ustabaşı in stoppage time after running 60 yards, only for him to be tackled at the last second by Simeon Maye.
Chorley Urwin; Smith, Leather (c), Calveley, Tomlinson (Nolan, 80′), Ustabaşı, Challoner, Shenton, Blakeman, Johnson (Owens, 77′), Hall (Schorah, 87′). Subs not used: Whitehouse, Okome.
Leamington Hawkins: Meredith, Morley (Usher-Shipway, 68′), Clarke (c), Streete, Mace, Hall, Maye, Reid (Cook, 80′), Walker, Kelly-Evans (Hewlett, 68′). Subs not used: Taylor, English.
Man of the Match Connor Hall
It was important to get the three points this afternoon and I thought we did really well. We had to make a few changes due to injuries and the lads who came in did very well for us – Chris Anderson
HT 1-0
Goals (assists) Hall 24′ (pen) | None
Cautions Tomlinson 43′, Smith 90′ | None
Dismissals None | None
Officials Richard Aspinall | Stephen Rushworth & Arran Williams
Crowd 941
Next Up
A visit to Peterborough Sports next Saturday. Entry to the game at The Bee Arena will cost £14 adults | £10 60+ | £5 Students/13-17s | FREE accompanied u13s
