Finishing school gives Magpies that cutting edge

​That’s the view of boss Andy Preece who described his side as clinical in front of goal against the Quakers

Early in the season, Preece identified his side’s prowess in front of goal as something that they needed to work on.

But all that hard work appears to be paying off as the Magpies ran riot at Victory Park.

Mark Ellis had already opened the scoring in the opening five minutes before the visitors were reduced to 10 men.

And Chorley made their numerical advantage count with Billy Whitehouse hitting a hat-trick while Ollie Shenton’s 25-yard piledriver was particularly memorable.

"We do a lot of work on finishing,” said Preece, who watched his team defeat Peterborough Sports 2-0 at home on Saturday. “Getting in to certain areas and then seeing what our options are.

"I think you just have to keep practising getting in there. The more practice you do, the better you get.

"It was pleasing on Tuesday because we took a lot of our chances. There were some really good goals and great finishes.”

After a little blip, Preece was thrilled to see his men pick up maximum points over the past week which sees them move into fifth spot in the National League North.

They are six points behind leaders Tamworth but with a game in hand.

"I would say over the last three games we have been back to where we were before,” he said.

"Like I keep saying it’s still early days, but what I say to the lads is we are in there.

"The next eight or nine games are going to be very important for us.

"We have laid a great foundation for ourselves and if you think, we weren’t in this position last year.

"So to be in this position after losing the players that we have in the summer is a probably a bit of a shock to most people.

"But I have got a lot of belief in the players that we are good enough to be up there challenging.”