Chorley FC 1 - Garforth Town 1

1.3.2008

Garforth were victims of a verifiable highway robbery at Chorley’s paradoxically named Victory Park, as the home side performed the most disheartening of smash and grab raids to claim a share of the points with an unjust 96th minute equaliser. The Yorkshiremen were undeniably coasting to a well deserved success in South Lancashire, until the aptly named Magpie’s snatched a point with a half-volleyed effort that occurred after the allotted time.

The visitors were instantly enlightened as to the type of game they could expect, when Chorley immediately made use of their obvious advantages in physical size and strength. The opening stages were dominated by the attempts of Town to establish midfield superiority, and the cynicism displayed by their Chorley counterparts. Not until the tenth minute were Garforth able to overcome these tactics, when Greg Kelly burst through the defence and shot low. The goalkeeper parried, only for Chris Brown to hit the ball narrowly over with his rebound effort.

Chorley asked questions of their own when former Preston North End winger Ashley Parillon burst down the left wing before cutting the ball inside to Danny Nolan. The striker’s controlled turn was excellent, though the following shot was somewhat less so. Garforth tried to pressurise the home defence but the Magpie’s were proving physically authoritative, and in particular their three ascending defensive player numbers 4, 5, and 6, a shaven headed trio who resembled the cast of neo-Nazi film Romper Stomper, marshalled their rear areas well. One of the trio, centre back Liam Coyne, formerly of Bolton Wanderers, won virtually every aerial contest due to the natural advantage of his 6’6” height. Despite this, Garforth determinedly continued to test the capabilities of Chorley, whilst receiving little in the way of attacking nous and threat themselves.

On 35 minutes, Chorley were awarded a questionable free kick on the edge of the Town box, and the deputising goalkeeper Gavin Phillis performed an excellent save to deny Nolan, who curled low to the right hand corner.

Soon after, Nolan was released into the expanse of space that inevitably came with Town’s adventurous three man defence formation, but captain Brett Renshaw recovered well and thwarted the attacker.

Towards the end of the half, Garforth looked to have the measure of Chorley, and entered a dominant spell in which they were unlucky not to score. Luis de Melo was released down the right channel, but when positioning to shoot was nudged, though the indiscretion went unpunished. Chris Brown ran on to a measured pass from Kelly, but the goalkeeper reacted well and smothered the ball at his feet. With a minute left of the first period, Brown returned the favour, and though Greg’s shot beat the goalkeeper, it slid agonisingly wide of the far post, depriving Town of an opening goal at a valuable point of play.

The second half began in much the same way as the first, with both sides clearly invigorated by their motivational team talks in the interval, and tackles were unhesitant and fierce. In the 49th minute, substitute Mark Harding laid on Nathan Kamara to cross, and his low effort found the feet of Brown with his back to goal. The versatile defender and striker turned sharply to create an angle, but his placed shot was saved.

Harding, Kelly and Kamara were proving effective on the left wing, and were able to deliver numerous crosses and in field passes to the Town attack, though Coyne and Kieran Fletcher were on form in clearing the danger and dealing with the incoming deluge. However, Chorley appeared noticeably less disciplined in the second period, and the Town midfield were allowed to slowly exert more pressure on the Magpie’s defence due to the increase in space and time in possession.

A rare Chorley counter attack saw a deflected shot strike the woodwork in the seventieth minute of play, and the challenged rebound was cleared. Town remained composed, and sought to attack down the flanks of the visibly wilting Lancastrians. Greg Kelly struck a free kick just over, and Nathan Kamara cut inside and shot narrowly side after being played into space by Mark Piper. Chris Kamara combined passes with the pair and Harding before his shot was blocked, and a penalty area scramble was eventually cleared after several Garforth players tried their luck with shot unable to evade the cluster of opposition players.

Chorley received a free kick late in the game, and the resulting header struck the post. The Garforth counter attack led to a throw in, which found Greg Kelly on the edge of the box with his back to goal. The Garforth veteran managed to turn his marker before forcing his way past a defender and slotting the ball home across the goal, to the delight of the travelling support.
This apparent last minute winner was followed by the announcement of three minutes of stoppage time. Garforth, to their credit, continued to press, and when Mark Piper was in acres of space with the potential to employ time wasting tactics, Kamara instead opted to release Greg Kelly with a lofted cross field pass, though the Town man was prevented from scoring by some desperate defending. With the points all but sealed, a curled ball into Garforth’s area two minutes after the rightful end of the fixture fell kindly to Chris Brookes, whose chested control and half volley thundered past the helpless Phillis, thus completing the match as two points were unlawfully denied Town after a gutsy performance against a physical, battling outfit.