Chasetown FC suffered defeat in their first ever meeting with Daventry Town.
A tight opening saw defences on top, with the best of the early chances falling to Scholars debutant Stan Mugisha who sprinted into the home penalty area but the ball bobbled and the chance was gone.
A Lee Butler free kick forced a corner from which Lewis Rankin’s deflected shot was parried out for another corner by goalkeeper Ben Heath. Then, Rankin forced Heath into the first real save of the game three minutes before half time.
Daventry centre back Jason Lee headed wide from a corner at the start of the second period as Town tried to assert some authority on the game.
Home midfielder Robert Prinzel should have given the Northamptonshire lead on the hour, volleying wide from close range after a goalmouth scramble.
Chasetown’s leading scorer from last season Nathan Waite was a whisker away from opening the scoring after seizing onto a Richard Davies pass and firing beyond Heath but a couple of inches over the bar.
The deadlock was finally broken when Chase skipper Chris Slater conceded a spot kick and, despite John Bateman getting his hands on the ball, the power from Nabil Shariff was enough to creep into the bottom corner.
Scholars manager Dave Stringer made two attacking substitutions but it was full back Rhys Thompson who went closest to an equaliser, heading a Butler free kick into the side netting.
Chasetown: Bateman, Thompson, Haynes (Opoku, 76 mins), Slater, Francis, Dance, Butler, Davies, Waite, Mugisha (Wint, 67 mins), Rankin (Gould, 76 mins). Subs not used: Hayden, Quinn.
