Chorley 1 Brackley 1: Wasteful ​Magpies could have turned one point into three

In a surprisingly open, end-to-end game both sides missed presentable chances, the Magpies in particular left to rue three or four early missed opportunities to take control of the match.

Joe Nolan, Jack Hazlehurst and Billy Whitehouse all fired over the bar from inside or the edge of the box.

But the clearest opening was wasted by Justin Johnson, who danced into the area only to shoot wide with just keeper Danny Lewis to beat.

Brackley capitalized on these let-offs. After coming much more into the game, they snatched the lead on 41 minutes with their first real shot at goal.

The Magpies’ defenders got themselves in a tangle, leaving Alfie Bates to shoot past Matt Urwin from eight yards unopposed.

If Chorley had shaded the first half, Brackley certainly had the better of the second.

Dan Turner fluffed a clear chance to make it 2-0 soon after the restart. Bursting free down the middle, he was foiled by the advancing Urwin, who spread himself to pull off a very smart save.

It was somewhat against the run of play when Chorley equalized after 61 minutes. A quickly-taken free kick released Johnson down the left and he centred perfectly for Mark Ellis, on debut, to rise highest at the far post and power his header past Lewis.

The visitors were in no way fazed by the setback and the hoped-for Magpies’ victory-charge did not materialize.

Turning defence into attack with impressive speed and control, Brackley raised their game and Chorley were indebted to Urwin for a string of quality saves, the pick of them a flying leap to his left to keep out a terrific header from George Carline.

The Magpies’ best effort was a bullet header to a right-wing cross by Mike Calveley which skimmed the bar.

The total commitment of both sides in a frantic finish produced a flurry of evenly-distributed yellow cards and a straight red for Brackley substitute Morgan Roberts for a stiff-arm aerial challenge.

In the end, the draw was a fair result but with greater steadiness in front of goal early on Chorley could very easily have claimed the points.

CHORLEY: Urwin, Henley, Ellis, Wilson ( Smith 90+5), Blakeman, Calveley, Sampson, Nolan (Ubaezuonu 90+5), Hazlehurst, Johnson, Whitehouse (Shenton 70. Subs (not used): Moore, Tomlinson.

Att: 1,054.