Telford 2, Chorley 0

The Magpies shipped two goals as former Burnley and Manchester United starlet John Cofie curled home a delightful shot and then Luke Dawson netted a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

The spot-kick award was doubly disastrous as a moment of hot headedness by Andy Teague, who pushed Josh Wilson in the face after an off-the-ball incident, prompted the referee to show the Chorley skipper a straight red card.

After that the visitors who had enjoyed the better of the first half-hour could find no way back and Telford ran out comfortable winners at the end of a largely uneventful second half. A smart reflex save by Sam Ashton in the opening minutes denied Connor McCarthy, but Chorley hit back and home keeper James Montgomery had to turn round the post a speculative curling effort from distance by Dale Whitham.

Jordan Connerton had a sighting of goal but dragged his shot wide.

Telford were coming much more into the picture and Teague had to block a Wilson shot on the line.

On 39 minutes, Cofie fastened onto a misplaced ball to beat Ashton from the edge of the box and the half ended with Dawson sending Ashton the wrong way from the penalty-spot.

Chorley were left to chase the game unsuccessfully after the break and it was Telford who twice could have extended their lead but for good saves by Ashton from Wilson and later the busy McCarthy. Kiel O’Brien blocked Cofie’s attempt to convert the loose ball in the latter instance.

There was one late scare for Telford when Whitham’s corner almost sneaked in, Montgomery just getting a hand on the ball in time. But over the 90 minutes Chorley, showing little punch up front.

Manager Matt Jansen was keen afterwards to praise his side. He said: “A poor end to the first half has cost us. The players kept working hard with 10 men and never stopped running but in the end the handicap was just too much.”