The hardy 30 or so Chasetown fans that made the Halloween trip to Nottinghamshire saw the best and worst of their side in this latest league fixture.
With trick or treat firmly in the air, the opening stages for the Scholars were a horror show, falling 2-0 behind with less than six minutes on the clock.
Firstly, the referee had no hesitation to point to the penalty spot, with Matthew Varley confidently firing home from 12 yards to give the home side the lead.
Before the Scholars had time to draw breath, Joe Naylor ghosted down the Carlton left and his cross to the far post was netted by Nick Hall to give Chasetown a nightmare start.
It would have been understandable for the visitors to fear the worst after recent results, but, to their credit, they came back strongly and by the quarter hour, Richard Teesdale headed narrowly wide from a Mark Branch free kick and then Nick Wellecomme also went close from a Scott Rickards cross.
On a wet, windy night, Ryan Price held on well to an awkwardly bouncing shot from Ruben Wiggins-Thomas, before Teesdale was again a whisker wide with another header from another Branch free-kick.
Chasetown ended the half believing there was still something in the game for them and from a deep Price free-kick, Carlton were at sixes and sevens as home keeper Martin Kearney made a mess of a punch and pressure from Theo Robinson saw Kearney just about keep the ball out of the net.
The Scholars pulled a goal back just four minutes after the break. Carlton skipper Matthew Varley claimed to have got a touch on the ball but, Danny Smith tumbled to the ground under the challenge and the referee pointed to the spot for the second time in the match. Mark Branch, recalled to the starting line-up, calmly rolled the ball into the corner of the net, sending Kearney the wrong way.
The visitors were now in the ascendancy and Kearney had to be at his best to palm over a shot from substitute Danny Ashton.
Nine minutes from time, Ashton was fouled from behind and again Chasetown were awarded another penalty kick, much to the consternation of the home defence who believed they were harshly done by on both decisions. This time, Branch went to the keeper’s left and Kearney got a touch on the ball, but only succeeded on pushing it against the inside of the post and into the back of the net.
Carlton looked more likely to win the game though, forcing Ryan Price into three top class saves in the dying minutes.
The hosts were then awarded a dramatic late free-kick – with strong claims that the foul was inside the penalty area – but Ryan Whitehurst curled his effort high and wide and the Scholars had earned their fifth draw in the last nine league games.
Carlton Town: Kearney, Darkin, Fletcher, Kimberley, Varley, Hall, Thornton, Naylor, Whitehurst, Wiggins-Thomas, Smithson. Subs not used: MacVicar, Gordon, Asher, Bailey, Clarke
Chasetown: Price, Downes, Branch, Farmer, Bate, Teesdale, Rickards, Saunders (Ashton, 70 mins), Wellecomme, Smith (Clarke-O’Connell, 87 mins), Robinson. Subs not used: Sullivan, Westwood, Jackson.
Click below to see more of Dave Birt’s pictures from the game:
