Brackley Town 1, Chorley 0: Magpies promotion dream is over after narrow play-off semi-final defeat
Chorley's promotion hopes were extinguished in this tight play-off semi-final where a goal in the final 12 minutes was enough to take Brackley through to a home play-off final against Boston United.
The hosts were in typically obdurate form, restricting the Magpies to half-chances, whereas Matt Urwin in the Chorley goal was much more severely tested on occasions and once again delivered a distinguished performance.
A quick tempo to the game in the early exchanges saw neither side able to generate any chances of real quality in front of goal.
Jack Sampson had Chorley’s first shot but he snatched at it and it went well over the bar.
Former Magpies ace Connor Hall got the ball on the break for Brackley, took on Adam Henley and Mark Ellis before having the hosts’ first effort from range but it was straight at Matt Urwin.
Chorley had a good spell of possession and Brackley were content to allow the Magpies to keep the ball.
Jack Hazlehurst and Frankie Maguire looked dangerous and the latter produced the visitors’ first shot on target, straight at Danny Lewis.
Into stoppage time and the hosts had a corner swung in by Tommy O’Sullivan. There was absolute chaos inside the box, with a spell of pinball, but somehow the did not end up in the back of the net.
Chorley were quickly out of the blocks after the break but soon had Urwin to thank for keeping them on terms.
Danny Newton latched onto a fine through ball from Hall but Urwin was quickly off his line to prevent what looked a certain goal.
In a good Chorley reply, Mark Ellis headed just over the bar from one of a series of corners. However, Urwin continued to be kept busy as the match entered the final quarter, with Brackley looking the more likely to break the deadlock.
The Chorley keeper did very well to deny Morgan Roberts, closing down the angle at his near post but he was finally beaten in the 78th minute.
Ricardo Carter was on the spot to tuck away the loose ball after Urwin had pulled off yet another excellent save.
A last chance for Chorley to save the game in added time saw Carlton Ubaezuonu get a decent effort on target but it was well saved by Lewis.
Once again, Brackley's formidable ability to grab a goal and keep a clean sheet proved enough to win the day and break Chorley’s hearts.
Chorley: Urwin, Henley, Ellis, Smith, Blakeman, Calveley, MaguIre (Whitehouse 85), Hazlehurst, Glynn (Johnson 84), Ubaezuonu, Sampson.
Attendance: 1,889 (378 away).