Chorley 2, Chester-le-Street 3: Magpies made to rue missed opportunities

Chorley were looking to bounce back after last week's defeat to Barnsley as they hosted Chester-Le-Street in the FA Women's National League.

The game started at a high tempo and the first real chance fell to Kerry Nickson after a corner was swung in from the right hand side but the centre half could not direct her header on target.

Chester-le-Street then had a couple of chances with their striker Nic Havery shooting from distance but Darbyshire gathered with ease.

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The hosts took the lead after 17 minutes. The ball was cleared out to Katy Morris who was at least 20 yards from goal and she thumped the ball into the top corner giving the goalkeeper no chance.

Morris has now scored two goals in two games for Chorley and both goals have been of the highest order.

The Magpies continued to press and almost doubled their advantage but Smith could not quite get the shot away after great play from Vella.

Chester-le-Street then went up the other end and had a goal disallowed due to a push on Rachel Darbyshire.

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Both sides were playing the ball around nicely but were missing the final pass and therefore the score remained 1-0 at the break.

Thirty seconds after the restart, Chester Le Street equalised. A defensive mix-up allowed Havery to get beyond the back line and despite a good save from Darbyshire initially, the striker was there to tuck home the rebound.

Chorley showed great character though to settle into the game and had the chance to re-take the lead on 65 minutes when Emily Stocks was brought down in the area.

Megan Searson dispatched the spot-kick to give Chorley the lead again, but Chester again equalised against the run of play.

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A ball was whipped-in from the right hand side and Havery was there to plant her header beyond Darbyshire.

Chorley had several chances to re-take the lead for the third time with Vella hitting the post from a long range free-kick and Stocks curling a shot narrowly wide.

But it was Chester who took the lead with 15 minutes to go when Lizzy Clarke beat the offside trap to fire into the goal off the underside of the crossbar.

Chorley threw everything at the Chester Le Street backline in order to salvage something from the game but Wood’s effort in the dying seconds cannoned back off the crossbar and Chorley were left to rue missed chances.