Chasetown end winless run with victory over Kidsgrove
Chasetown ended their three-match winless run and condemned Kidsgrove to the bottom of the league with a late goal to demoralise their Staffordshire neighbours.
Athletic saw Tesfa Robinson clear off the line while Wayne Cordon and Shane Reaney both struck the frame of the goal and really must have felt that things were not going their way in their fight to avoid relegation as Bedworth won 2-0 to leapfrog Kidsgrove.
That said, the Scholars had more than enough chances to put the game beyond any doubt, with visiting keeper Danny Read head and shoulders above the rest as a choice for man of the match.
After just 10 minutes, Read made a candidate for save of the season as it seemed inevitable that Danny Bragoli's close-range downward header would find the net.
But Read kept out the effort with the assistant referee shaking his head to appeals that the ball had crossed the line.
Jack Lees and Luke Chapman both tested Read with low shots in a fairly disappointing first half.
The visitors started the second half by twice rattling the frame of Danny Watson's goal until Chasetown gradually took control of the game and took the lead 14 minutes from time – with a superb strike following a scruffy build-up.
Lee Butler's near-post corner just reached Nick Wellecomme who, himself, scuffed his pass into the path of Lees.
The ball ricocheted from Lees into the path of Joe Halsall who screamed an effort through a crowded goalmouth into the back of the net – his first Chasetown goal at the 27th time of asking.
Halsall almost made it two, forcing Read to dive full-length to his left to keep out the goalbound effort.
Chasetown continued to warm the gloves of the Kidsgrove No.1 as Wellecomme brought a decent diving save out of Read and then he denied Bragoli for the second time in the game.
Chasetown: Watson, Farmer, Jermaine Johnson, Slater, Robinson, Halsall, Butler (D Smith 83), Bragoli, Wellecomme, Lees, Chapman (Stephens 64). Subs not used: Evans, Bennett, MacDonald.
Kidsgrove Athletic: Read, Street (Grocott 54), Bramall, Edwards, Twigg, Nicklin, Matranga, Wain (Spence 69), Jordan Johnson, Reaney, Cordon. Subs not used: Edge, Haddrell.
