Chorley 0 Peterborough Sports 1: Magpies cannot catch up after a poor first half
A woeful first-half performance cost Chorley dearly against an in-form Peterborough Sports team and added to concerns about their increasingly insecure position in the National League North table.
The visitors were on fire from the start on Saturday, giving Chorley a real chasing.
The Magpies looked overwhelmed and were lucky not to concede more than the sloppy 12th-minute goal which put Peterborough in control.
A break down the left and low cross into the box led to Tom Walker dawdling on the ball and losing possession, leaving Max Booth with a simple finish into an empty net.
The scorer later forced Matt Urwin into a fine low save at the near post before Chorley finally created a decent chance.
Max Wilson broke down the right and crossed for Joe Nolan to get in a powerful header, which unfortunately flew straight at keeper Peter Crook.
Changes had to be made to the Magpies’ ineffective line-up with the introduction of the bustling Harry Ibbitson at the break and – soon afterwards – Adam Blakeman transforming the game.
Blakeman, in particular, repeatedly put Chorley on the front foot with his incisive use of the ball and Sports were pinned back as the Magpies completely dominated the second half.
They were refused what looked to be a clear penalty when Tom Carr was bowled over as he burst into the box.
However, credit goes to the visitors who resolutely packed their box, got bodies in the way of Chorley’s best efforts and held on to make it three wins in a row.
Speaking afterwards, Chorley boss Andy Preece refused to take positives from a rousing second-half showing, saying: “If we are going to win games, we’ve got to play like that from the start. That first half was completely unacceptable.”