Chatham Town 1 Ilford 2

Sunday 23rd April 2006

Chatham Town welcomed back Andy Larkin but were without Steve Best due to an ankle injury, writes Neil Sanders.

They created the early chances but Ilford keeper Lee Ward got his positioning right on each occasion to deny Luke Coleman and Tom Binks. Ilford took the lead after 20 minutes against the run of play, Anton Trice finding space at the back post to head home from a corner.

Soon afterwards Hicham Akhazzan brought a good save from Ward with a sharp piece of control followed by a decent volley.

The same player then scored the equaliser after 31 minutes. Coleman got clear only to see his shot saved, however Akhazzan this time left Ward rooted to the spot with a 25 yard effort which flew in to the top corner.

Ilford nearly took the lead again with the Chats defence grateful that an unchallenged header missed the target.

However, on the stroke of half time the controversial moment on the match denied defender Matt Bourne from scoring for the 2nd successive match. Ward was unable to hold Dareen Smith's well struck free kick and Bourne reacted first to drill home from close range.

As Chatham celebrated the whistle went, with a free kick being awarded to Ilford. The ball had apparently been kicked out of the keepers hands. Quite simply, it hadn't!

Early in the second half the mysterious 'interfering / not interfering with play', offside rule reared it's ugly head again. The flag stayed down whilst Ilford's Jeff Hammond proceeded to force a decent save from Louis Green, after having been standing several yards offside moments before.

Chats did create some openings in the 2nd period. The first was halted when Byron Walker was brought down by Danny Cross as he looked about to break clear. The visitors defender received a yellow card for his challenge. Coleman then breached the defensive line but his shot didn't trouble the Ilford keeper.

Ilford snatched the winner in the 79th minute, Trice getting the last touch to force the ball over the line after a goalmouth scramble. A frustrating end to Chatham's home calendar for the season, as they will feel that they should have had a point at least.

Chatham Town: Green, Binks (Harvey 81), Bourne, Boyle, A.Larkin, Searle, Smith, Akhazzan, Coleman, Denness, B.Walker (Brooks 69). Subs: Lyons, Miles.