The keeper can't get near the header from Danny Edwards. Pic: Dave Birt

Chasetown FC cruised into the FA Trophy draw and could have had double their final goal tally as they dominated this FA Trophy tie against Loughborough Dynamo.

Lee Parsons rifles Chasetown in front. Pic: Dave Birt
Lee Parsons rifles Chasetown in front. Pic: Dave Birt

The home side did survive an early scare though as Daryll Thomas gave Dynamo a ninth minute lead with the defence at sixes and sevens.

It took The Scholars just four minutes to equalise when Todd Evans and Simon Brown combined down the inside right channel and Brown’s cross into the box was steered home by Richard Davies –scoring in all three of Chasetown’s Trophy games this season so far.

The ball heads goalwards after Danny Edwards' header. Pic: Dave Birt
The ball heads goalwards after Danny Edwards’ header. Pic: Dave Birt

A partially cleared corner fell to the feet of Lee Parsons who drilled a low shot beyond an unsighted Damien Clark to give the home side the lead just after the half hour mark.
Clark made a stunning fingertip save over the bar from Davies but it wasn’t long before the Dynamo keeper was beaten again.

Brown and Evans were also involved in Chasetown’s third. Evans elected to go short rather than long with the throw-in and Brown return pass saw Evans curl in a first-time cross and Danny Edwards leapt well to head the Scholars 3-1 clear eight minutes before half-time.

With one game in the local area abandoned due to fog, there was one eye on the weather as mist descended at the start of the second half, but a drizzly start to the second 45 minutes saw the visibility improve until the dying two or three minutes.

Chasetown could easily have added further goals at the start of the second half. Nathan Waite got into a good position down by the bye-line and chipped up the ball for Edwards whose header goalwards was hooked off the line by Joe Pheasant.

Then, Waite saw an effort pushed onto the base of the post with Clark getting the slightest touch with his fingertips to prevent Chasetown’s leading scorer from notching a goal.

Loughborough defended spiritedly to keep the scoreline down but in stoppage time substitute Danny Griffiths marked his return to Chasetown poking the ball beyond Clark to complete the scoring. Griffiths, who marked his Chasetown debut last season with a goal after a minute of his introduction, became only the second player in 25 years to score on his club debut and his first game back after re-joining the club.

Chasetown: Bateman, Evans, Beckett, Slater, Miles, Downes, Brown, Parsons, Waite (Griffiths, 85 mins), Davies, Edwards (Robinson, 72 mins). Subs not used: Haynes, Lees, Pond.
Loughborough Dynamo: Clark, Shaw, Dawkins (Langham), Wassall, Pheasant, Holwell, K Davies (Jimoh), Wood, Morris, Thomas, Way (Browne). Subs not used: Kenny, Green.

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