Chadderton Lose Out At Home

The Reds were edged out by high-fliers Emley AFC at the ARK Fleetech stadium on Saturday afternoon.  

The Reds' unbeaten run came to an unfortunate end on Saturday afternoon as second-placed high fliers, Emley AFC. The Yorkshire-based side enjoyed spells of play in the first half, but Chadderton remained defiant and defended amicably with Ben Matthews and Alex Bescoby dealing with the visitor's threats confidently.  

Emley struck the post in the latter end of the second half, but chances were few and far between as the match turned into a real scrap for possession and a physical test for David Fish's young side. Neither side could quite get going in the opening 45 minutes on a cold Saturday afternoon in Chadderton.  

In the second-half the mindset and the tempo was raised by both sides, the Reds enjoyed several moments of positivity from an attacking perspective, carving open the Emley defence on multiple occasions at the start of the second half. Jordan Butterworth and Arron Scholes came close to breaking the deadlock, but the Emley defence remained composed and relaxed in possession as a point for both sides seemed like a fair conclusion to a 'scrappy' game of football.  

Just four minutes from time, the visitors were awarded a free-kick, which proved to be questionable as the decision was awarded against Jordan Butterworth, who seemingly had been upended himself with the decision going against the midfielder. From the resulting free-kick, the visitors snatched a late winner as a loose ball was struck by John Cyrus, hitting a Chadderton body on the way over the line, just.  

The linesman declared the ball was over the line and awarded the goal rather swiftly. The Reds went in search of a late equaliser, but the visitors remained reserved in their play and closed out a narrow victory.  

Chadderton XI: Hadlow, Cullen, Richards, Butterworth, Bescoby, Matthews, Scholes, Rutter, Turnbull (C), O'Connor, Camara.  

Emley XI: Clarke, Dawson, Charlton, Price (C), Riordan, Cyrus, Rose, Claisse, Bordman, Eyles, Metcalfe.  

Attendance: 112 

Written By: Tom Beresford