A bumper crowd of 600-plus at Stafford Rangers saw Chasetown FC fall to only their second defeat under the Marcus Law regime as the hosts kept their play-off hopes alive.
The home side shaded the opening exchanges and roared on by a boisterous crowd deservedly took the lead in the 25th minute. A fast flowing attack saw Peter Till get the ball in space and slip a pass through to James Dance who made no mistake from close range.
A well marshalled home defence kept goalkeeper Adam Whitehouse from any serious threats on goal from the visitors.
Perhaps if Chasetown had got through to half time just the one goal adrift they could have gone again in the second period, but in first half stoppage time they were dealt a sucker punch when Stanley Mugisha teed up Christian Dacres who headed home at the far post.
Law reacted with a striker for midfielder with Nick Turton replacing Grant Beckett at half time but it was still the home side that were largely dominant with possession with Whitehouse a spectator in the home goal.
Montell Brown finally tested the goalkeeper’s gloves with a bit of pace down the right wing and Whitehouse had to palm away Brown’s cross-cum-shot.
Deep in second half stoppage time, Chasetown did find the target and it was a goalscoring one too. Turton was put through clear from midfield and was one-on-one with Whitehouse, netting with a confident finish.
There was no dramatic late draw though as Stafford kicked off firing the ball high over John Bateman’s crossbar with what proved to be the last kick of the game.
Chasetown: Bateman, Griffiths (Antonio, 56 mins), Stuart, Slater, Francis, Beckett (Turton, HT), S Brown, Grayson, Waite, Davies, Edwards (M Brown, 65 mins). Subs: Haynes, Teesdale.
Click below to see more of Dave Birt’s pictures from the game:
