Chasetown Colts were again victorious in their latest league encounter against Chase Stags Blues. This evening game was played in wet and blustery conditions and this made it difficult for both teams, allied to that the pitch was not the best either.

In the first half it is fair to say that Chasetown Colts struggled to match the heights of their previous league game as they did not look up for the fight at all and credit to Stags as they made it very difficult for the visitors with their very direct approach and they closed us down at every opportunity. As a result the slick passing football that was so evident last Sunday deserted us. In addition to this Colts were not getting close enough to the opposition and therefore winning the physical battle. It was just as the half was coming to a close that Chasetown put together their best football of the match so far and as a result they took the lead with a well worked goal, clinically finished by Thomas Anelli. It was the only time that they had really played any football of any note and they got their reward. Chase Stags did not really threaten to any great degree, but there were one or two moments that worried the coach.

In the second half the conditions worsened, and again Colts just could not get any momentum in their play, with the game beginning to become very scrappy and disjointed. As the half wore on though the reintroduction of Fabian Smith into the team gave them fresh impetus, and it was he who settled our nerves a little with a looping shot which beat the Stags goalkeeper for 2-0. It then became a bit more comfortable and the confidence returned for the last 5 minutes or so, and Dominik Russell shot wide after a good incisive run on goal, and then Luke Heele went close with a good effort, unfortunately it fell on his weaker left foot and he could not quite get the power in his shot and the keeper saved well. As the game drew to a close, Colts then scored again through Fabian Smith who was on hand to squeeze a shot between the keeper and the right hand post for a good finish, and his second goal of the game. No further alarms for Chasetown after this and they had restricted Stags to only one or two efforts on our goal, one which went wide and the other was comfortably dealt with by Lewis Harvey in the Chasetown goal.

In conclusion this was not the best performance by any stretch of the imagination, but it is the mark of a good team that they can grind out a win, and also keep a clean sheet when the team as a whole was not at their absolute best. There were no poor performances from any member of the squad, they seemed to do just enough, and their quality in the end did show through, hence the 3 goal winning margin.

The supporters man of the match was tied tonight, between Fabian Smith and Thomas Anelli, and it was given to Fabian, as Thomas had been voted MOM in the previous game. The coaches gave their award to Charlie Mellor for a fine performance in defence.

The team are really on a roll now and have that 39 point target firmly in their sights, as they know that they are going to have to get to this mark to have any chance of finishing in second place.