A visit to my dear old mum up in Kent meant the girls and I still managed to find some football to watch and headed just a few miles up the road from her house to watch Corinthian trying to add three points to their relegation battle.
I’d watched Michael Golding’s side twice in pre-season and about a month ago just up the road from me at Littlehampton and they’ve been in a relegation battle all season.
Chatham Town were the visitors to Gay Dawn Farm, on a run of no wins in four games but still heavily involved in the title race and would have seen the game as an ideal opportunity to get themselves back on the horse and galloping forwards.
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A sunny afternoon greeted the larger than usual crowd of 241, buoyed by a good travelling support. The opening minutes were quite frantic as the Hoops set about being busy and getting about the Chats as much as they could, scoring opportunities at a premium for both sides throughout the first half, Andy Drury trying to prompt things from the middle of midfield without much luck for the visitors.
Corinthian looked the brighter in the opening moments of the second half, sensing there were chances there to be created having managed to stifle their opponents in the first 45 minutes, ten minutes into the second period Chats keeper Ben Bridle-Card collided with his own defender and needed a period of treatment.
The game however continued for a few minutes more before Bridle-Card went down to his knees, obviously not quite right and play was suspended whilst an ambulance was called and duly arrived.
Play did resume with Fabio Saraiva taking over the goalkeeping responsibilities for the visitors with around 35 minutes left to play, but rather than the Hoops sensing the new keeper needed to be tested it looked a little like it disrupted their flow they had prior to the stoppage.
The visitors were patient and defended well, Corinthian unable to make any inroads into goalscoring positions despite some good free kick positions coming their way.
Just as the game seemed set for a point each a late corner in stoppage time for Chat saw the ball poked home by Ollie Sotoyinbo for the only goal of the game. There was very little time for the home side to react as the final whistle went very soon after, a deflating feeling for the Hoops but a much needed return to winning ways for Chatham.
Having seen my first 0-0 on Wednesday evening I was all set for a second in a row and what would have been a good point for the home side, but not to be, something though would have been a fair result with neither side creating enough to warrant the win.Havig
Bodies on the line was the order of the day for Corinthian and it so nearly worked out too but often when you’re scrapping for points at bottom it just goes against you.
As always good to catch up with Hoops boss Michael Golding before kick-off, under no illusions it’s a tough task to stay in this division and with results not going their way either on Saturday afternoon they do need a run of around three wins in a row to put pressure on the other sides around them.
Great to see Ben Bridle-Card tweet on Sunday afternoon, he’s in good shape after a long night in A&E, good keeper having seen him in action for Sevenoaks Town in the past, a crucial part of the promotion push for Chatham no doubt.
