County aiming
IN-FORM County made it four wins out of four in October with an impressive 0-1 win at Chorley on Saturday to move within three points of a National League North play-off place.
The Hatters will now face off with Kidderminster this weekend to seal five wins and a 100 per cent winning record in October, with the recently relegated Harriers sitting just above County in the league table.
Match-winner Danny Lloyd grabbed the only goal after 72 minutes from a superb assist by goalkeeper Ben Hinchliffe, securing The Hatters’ first win over The Magpies in 117 years in front of a buoyant 892 travelling supporters.
The three points at Victory Park also signalled Jim Gannon’s side’s 8th win in 11 games, County’s best run of form across all competitions since the 2007/08 season – in which Gannon’s then League Two side won promotion via the playoffs.
There was just one alteration from the starting line-up which had beaten Bishop Auckland the week prior in the final FA Cup qualifying round, with new boy James Hooper making his debut after joining on loan in midweek from neighbours Rochdale.
Forward Hooper replaced Jimmy Ball on the right of a front three, but the biggest change came at the back for The Hatters, with Gannon opting for a back three of Chris Smalley, Michael Clarke and captain Mark Ross, returning to Chorley for the first time since his somewhat acrimonious move to Edgeley Park in the summer.
Chorley had yet to taste defeat at the aptly-named Victory Park this season, with Matt Jansen’s side sitting in third place in the division, but a formidable display from The Hatters’ rearguard set the stage for a deserved three points for Gannon’s men.
County started brightly in a biting Lancashire wind, with goalscoring defender Clarke spurning a huge opportunity after 15 minutes when he was left unmarked from close range to head Danny Lloyd’s free-kick wide of Sam Ashton’s goal.
The hosts did eventually step up their game in the opening half, with Adam Blakeman finding space from long range to drill wide of Hinchliffe’s upright – before The Hatters looked to have got themselves in front on the
‘Perhaps the most impressive feat was the hosts had no real chances’
half-hour mark. Lloyd again caused chaos with a set-piece delivery, opting for the near post with a County corner - with Josh Amis flicking the ball on, and wing-back Max Cartwright firing home at the back post in front of the vocal away supporters.
But despite no real appeals from the Chorley defence, and with replays later showing very little by way of pushing and shoving going on inside the penalty area, official Peter Gibbons was the only man inside the ground to find fault with Cartwright’s strike, and disallowed the goal.
There was time for one more chance apiece before the interval, with firstly Chorley midfielder Jake Cottrell acrobatically volleying just over Hinchliffe’s crossbar from a mishit Scott Leather strike, before the lively Sam Minihan leapt to head just over Ashton’s goal at the other end.
At half-time it was still 0-0 but County had imposed themselves well on a game which had seen the home side go into as favourites despite The Hatters’ excellent form.
There were to be three glorious chances for County after the break, with Lloyd finding himself at the heart of all of them.
Firstly, the diminutive winger nodded down at the back post for Amis – still stuck on just one goal