Paul Sullivan opens the scoring for Chasetown against Sheffield. Pic: Dave Birt
Paul Sullivan opens the scoring for Chasetown against Sheffield. Pic: Dave Birt
Paul Sullivan opens the scoring for Chasetown against Sheffield. Pic: Dave Birt

Chasetown FC ended their home fixtures with an emphatic performance to beat the world’s oldest football club and move into the final play-off place.

The Scholars now face three away games in the regulation season and potentially face two more away fixtures should they progress in the end-of-season promotion deciders.

The sun shone brightly on The Scholars Ground and this rubbed off on Chasetown as they made a similarly bright start.

Inside five minutes, Paul Sullivan smashed his tenth goal of the season with a driven shot which left Sheffield keeper Liam Flynn stranded.

Two minutes later Flynn was at full stretch to fingertip over a Simon Brown fizzer from outside the box which looked like it was creeping just under the bar.

Nick Wellecomme doubles Chasetown's advantage against Sheffield. Pic: Dave Birt
Nick Wellecomme doubles Chasetown’s advantage against Sheffield. Pic: Dave Birt

It was one-way traffic and no surprise when Chasetown doubled their lead. Leading scorer Nick Wellecomme beat the offside trap and tucked the ball into the corner of the net past a stranded Flynn.

Former Scholar Joel Purkiss struck the top of the crossbar with a free kick, but it was the new incumbent of the number ten shirt who extended Chasetown’s lead in the 28th minute.

Simon Brown rifles in Chasetown's fourth against Sheffield. Pic: Dave Birt
Simon Brown rifles in Chasetown’s fourth against Sheffield. Pic: Dave Birt

The Scholars were playing a number of sweet passing movements throughout the field and Sheffield could not live with the home side’s form. Sullivan found himself in space inside the Steelmen’s penalty area and drilled a low shot which struck the inside of Flynn’s right hand post and nestled in the far corner of the net.

Jack Farmer left the field with a nasty head injury two minutes before the interval and the long disruption, followed by Andy Westwood coming on in midfield and Chris Slater moving to right back, affected Chasetown for long enough for James Gregory to give the Yorkshiremen some hope.

It was vital that Craig Harris’ men did not concede a second at the start of the second half and Sheffield’s early pressure was dealt with comfortably by the centre back pairing of Richard Teesdale and Tesfa Robinson, with Danny Bragoli outstanding in the centre of the park.

Man of the match Simon Brown produced a moment of genius just short of the hour when he unleashed a thunderbolt that dipped and nestled below the crossbar with Flynn only able to watch as it found the net.

Flynn’s ghastly mix up in the 63rd minute gifted the ball to the feet of Wellecomme who calmly got the ball under control and under nominal pressure from a defender he rolled the ball into an empty net for his 20th goal of the campaign – the first Chasetown player to reach that figure since Dean Perrow in 2008-09.

Nick Wellecomme completes the scoring. Pic: Dave Birt
Nick Wellecomme completes the scoring. Pic: Dave Birt

The 200-plus crowd erupted at news that new league leaders King’s Lynn were beating Sutton Coldfield 2-0 and the party atmosphere continued as Lee Butler left the field to a standing ovation, as did Paul Sullivan eight minutes later.

Substitute Gary Hay beat the offside trap to cheekily chip Flynn, only to see the ball come back off the upright into the arms of the grateful keeper.

Chasetown: Price, Farmer (Westwood, 43 mins), Jackson, Slater, Tesfa Robinson, Teesdale, Butler (Smith, 71 mins), Bragoli, Wellecomme, Sullivan (Hay, 79 mins), Brown. Subs not used: Downes, Theo Robinson.
Sheffield FC: Flynn, Burrell, Hill, Cooksey, Hadfield, Stirrup, Roney (Woolley, 60 mins), Gascoigne (Al Hakam, 75 mins), Muldoon, Purkiss (McKenzie, 70 mins), Gregory. Sub not used: Powell.

Click below to see more of Dave Birt’s pictures from the game: