For the visit of Hereford, Andy Preece kept faith in the side that secured three points on the opening day at Peterborough Sports. It was a wise choice, although perhaps not entirely unexpected. After all, this is a side that is still developing understandings and relationships that can only really flourish in competitive minutes on the field. Time and patience will be in order over the coming months, yet from Saturday’s showing there was plenty to be encouraged about.
The Magpies looked comfortable and in control of proceedings for most of the encounter, Adam Blakeman grabbing his first goal of the season on the half hour mark. It was some finish, too. Finding time on the ball in centre field, he confidently skipped past D’Ath before placing a fine strike beyond Chapman in goal from twenty yards out.
In contrast to last weekend, the playing surface was immaculate and allowed the Magpies to play a more assertive and expansive game. Kole Hall looked commanding again, with moments of interplay with Tom Carr showing that their understanding is growing.
Craig Hewitt had captured the eye last weekend and built on that performance again on Saturday. He was outstanding, and all of Chorley’s brightest moments seemed to come through him. Hereford struggled to contain his pace, and the confidence in which he has in being direct created panic all afternoon. With fifteen minutes left to play, he nearly opened his National League North account for the Magpies, too. The Hereford box was packed, expecting either a long ball or long throw directly into the area, but Hewitt had other ideas. Picking up the throw out on the left and jinking past Teixeira, he let fly a powerful drive from twenty-five yards out that went just wide of Chapman’s left-hand post.
The visitors rarely had a meaningful sight of goal before they had levelled the game. Centre forward Andy Williams, increasingly drawn into midfield and on to the wings in search of the ball, was found in space on the left by Babos with Henley caught slightly narrow. Williams’ first-time ball into the near post was low, and substitute Ahkeem Rose struck across Urwin and into the far corner.
Like a lot of sports, football is founded on its clichés. If deep-rooted enough, they become almost immutable laws of the game itself. One of those clichés is that decisions even themselves out over the course of a season. After the Peterborough Sports match, a number of the opposing fans made their feelings known regarding our winning penalty and a lack of one for the same offence in their favour. Those same fans may feel, then, that the division of divine justice that rules over non-league football held court on Saturday and dealt out some form of skewed justice.
The referee had allowed a lot of decisions to pass during open play which, as long as it is consistent, is arguably better than those referees who want to be the main character. As Preece said in his post-match comments though, that consistency seemed to disappear with decisions made in the box. Ellis, who had been bright all afternoon again, doing what he does best and making himself a threat at set-pieces, found himself bundled over for a second week in succession. Blakeman’s searching freekick from the right saw Kyle Howkins – despite his 6ft 5” stature – use Ellis as leverage for a header that he did not make. Arguably, it was more of a penalty this week, but play continued.
With little over five minutes left to play, Andy Williams picked up the ball on the opposite wing and put in a high, deep cross this time. Ironically, Williams was searching for Kyle Howkins in the box, who had not the faintest chance of making a connection with the cross despite leaping for it. It was far too high for him, but under a challenge from Henley the referee pointed to the spot, and produced a second yellow card. Qualitatively, there was little difference between the two penalty incidents, but Hereford now had a chance to take the lead for the first time and perhaps the three points, with so little time left. Yet with Matt Urwin in goal – who thrives on these moments – there’s always a chance, and so it proved. Williams went low to Urwin’s left hand corner but Matty was down in an instant to stop and hold the effort.
Hereford’s manager Paul Caddis gave an honest assessment to Bulls News after the game, feeling that it would have been ‘smash and grab’ should the visitors have taken the points. He went as far as to say that he didn’t think it was a fair result and that his side didn’t deserve much from the game. On balance, Chorley may feel slightly aggrieved not to have taken the three points with such a decent performance, particularly at home, but in the circumstances they nearly had none, so overall it was a decent point.
It’s a short turnaround as the Magpies return to action at Victory Park this evening for the first midweek fixture of the campaign, with Scarborough Athletic the visitors. Like Chorley, the Seadogs have four points from their opening two games, but have managed three goals in each fixture. Their season began with a tricky trip to newly promoted Radcliffe, champions of the Northern Premier League, and the 3-3 draw was an excellent result on paper. Having been two goals up though, they will surely have left the North West rueing the fact they let such a lead slip in just three minutes either side of the break.
On Saturday and back on home soil, the Seadogs eased to a 3-0 win against Rushall Olympic. Two of their three goals were far too easy in the making which left visiting manager Adam Stevens lamenting his side not doing the “sh*t stuff” well.
Dom Tear had a good start to his 2023-24 campaign before suffering an injury layoff that kept him out of the side until the New Year. He’ll be one to watch tonight, having scored a hattrick on the opening day and finding the net again on Saturday. He’s the league’s top scorer currently. A familiar face will be returning following a decent loan spell with the Magpies in the latter half of last season, Kieran Glynn should feature at some point this evening.
The Seadogs boosted their attacking ranks with the capture of Richie Bennett in close season, he spent most of 2023-24 on loan at Southport from Scunthorpe United, scoring eight goals. He’s yet to find the net this season, but he’ll certainly be looking to open his account tonight. One potential big loss may be Captain Will Thornton who took a knock on the opening day. Manager Jonathan Greening said he could have been used from the bench in an emergency against Rushall, but in the event he was not required.
Andy Preece may be tempted to dip into his squad with a stern test at the current league leaders Scunthorpe United on Saturday, and the visit of Southport just on the horizon for Bank Holiday Monday. Kole Hall faces the first of a trio of his former clubs this evening, and his most recent one, having been on loan with the Seadogs for a period last season. What a time it would be for him to get off the mark.
Over the last few seasons the evening fixtures at Victory Park have been intriguing affairs, tonight should be no different as both side look to remain unbeaten. Despite losing on both occasions to the Seadogs in 2022-23, the Magpies were undefeated in three fixtures against them across 2023-24. 1-1, 3-0 and 1-0 in the FA Trophy. Let’s hope the Magpies can continue both that good run and their good start to the season. See you there.
Martin Ramsbotham.
