“Play until the final whistle”, is an all too common phrase heard in football. But that was certainly the case for Cheadle Town on Wednesday evening when they played host to Chadderton.
With the game drawing to a close and both sides being resigned to a share of the points, a moment of magic happened as a counter attack began on the halfway line which resulted in Chris Sherrington bundling the ball home from close range.
On the back of Cheadle Town’s victory in the FA Cup, it was back to League action and a chance to get some points on the board. Cheadle were without key players Liam Tongue, Tom Russell and James Dunn, but it was an opportunity for players like Rick Whyatt to come back in to the team.
Cheadle got off to the best possible starts with an early goal on 5 minutes when Sam Noar seized onto a poor back pass from the Chadderton defender and beat the keeper at the near post. Cheadle could have increased their lead further on 11 minutes as Mike Sherrington volleyed a shot straight into the keepers arms.
Chadderton got themselves back into the game on 13 minutes as James Curley was the quickest to react to a defensive mix up and scored from close range.
It was end to end football and James Moore was unlucky not to score on 18 minutes as he connected to a free kick but could only put his shot wide of the post. Cheadle were soon rewarded on 23 minutes when a Chris Sherrington cross found the incoming Rick Whyatt who slid in to poke the ball home.
Two minutes later Cheadle extended their lead as Sam Noar got his second goal of the game as he ran onto a through ball and slotted the ball past the oncoming keeper. But determined Chadderton got themselves back into the game on 39 minutes when Matthew Crothers reacted quicker to a shot that had rebounded off the post to score.
HT: Cheadle Town 3 Chadderton 2
Cheadle came out to the second half minus defender James Moore who suffered a shoulder injury late in the first half. But that didn’t deter Cheadle who once again extended their lead on 49 minutes when Rick Whyatt scored from close range to grab his second goal of the game.
After this, we witnessed an extended period of Chadderton pressure and it was no surprise that they got their rewards on 71 minutes when Jack Tuohy scored from an angle to beat Ben Jupp at the near post. Chadderton were then level on 77 minutes when Matthew Chilton found space on the right wing and drilled a low shot into the net.
Both sides continued to attack and it was Cheadle who claimed all point during injury time when James Horan found space in the middle of the park before passing it out wide to Mike Sherrington who found his brother Chris with an inch perfect pass to seal the three points.