Chorley 1 Darlington 2: Ten-man Magpies undone by freak winner
Chorley did not deserve to lose this game which was spoiled as a spectacle by a boisterous swirling wind which disrupted the pattern of play.
The plucky Magpies – reduced to 10 men with half-an-hour still to play – dominated large parts of the match, especially in an impressive first half.
What was lacking was composure in finishing, one instance in particular costing them a point.
The home side had the Quakers under the cosh in the opening stages yet it was the visitors who snatched the lead after 23 minutes. A quick break down the right, with the Chorley defence undermanned, saw Max Howells – looking offside – race clear and centre low to leave Cedric Main a simple finish.
The Magpies deservedly equalised 10 minutes later. Crisp approach work involving four players led to Adam Blakeman crossing squarely to Harry Ibbitson, who finished neatly from six yards.
Though Chorley continued to hold sway, there was a setback in added time before the break. Benefitting from a fortuitous ricochet, Will McGowan deceived Matt Urwin with a snap-shot from 20 yards. The ball looked like clearing the bar but appeared to be held up by the wind and with the keeper off his line dipped into the empty net.
The Magpies battled hard against the wind after the interval but lost Mark Ellis, shown a straight red card for an apparently dangerous use of an elbow.
It made remarkably little difference to Chorley’s attacking endeavours but Darlington defended resolutely and in depth as required.
The home side’s best chance was wasted when after a tricky run Tom Carr shot weakly straight at Peter Jameson.
Manager Andy Preece hailed: “A really good performance. We peppered their goal in a dominant first half and you would never have known we were down to 10 in the second.
“But we’ve shot ourselves in the foot by conceding two poor goals.”