By Tom Potter
CHASETOWN were forced to share the points with Trafford FC after their clash at the Scholars Ground on Saturday.
Prior to the Northern Premier League West fixture, the Chase were unbeaten in their previous five games and boasted a flawless home record since, head-coach, Jamie Hawkins’ appointment.
Most recently, Hawkins’ men won at Wythenshawe Town the previous week.
Scholars did not get off to a convincing start as the ball trickled past the Blues’ goal-line
twice, only to be bailed out by the linesman.
In the 18th minute, Trafford finally opened the scoring via Brad Byrne.
Hawkins was not happy with his team’s initial performance.
He explained: “We just weren’t quite at the races. There was no lack of effort, but we just weren’t quite as fluid.
“That first 20 minutes, we were probably fortunate not to be down further,” he said.
The Scholars began to push back after going one down. In the 34th minute, the score was level courtesy of Tom Thorley.
Hawkins praised his squad’s reaction after the visitors broke the deadlock.
He added: “We did get a little bit of a foothold. We had to go a little more direct, try to turn them round, gain a little bit of territory, and be able to get our unit higher up the pitch.”
Neither squad seemed happy with a point, and the second half turned into a fierce battle between the teams, as they both scrambled for the winning goal.
Chasetown exhausted every resource, using each substitute available to them.
But despite creating several chances, none were clear-cut enough to result in a goal for either side.
It was a result that held up the Scholars’ play-off charge, but they are still only three points outside the top five.
