Chatham Town 1 Uxbridge 2

For only the second time this season Chatham Town manager Steve Binks was able to name an unchanged starting line up, whilst Steve Searle made a welcome return on the subs bench, writes Neil Sanders.

 

The opening half hour was fairly even. Mark Nicholls’ free kick for Uxbridge which just cleared the Chats crossbar, and a strong run and shot from Luke Harvey at the other end were the closest efforts for each side.

However, the visitors took the lead after 38 minutes. A deep cross from Kevin Swift was volleyed back across the goalmouth by Lee Tunnell and Sammy Winston was on hand to slide in a provide the final touch.

Rob Denness, in his second game back after injury, came on as a half time substitute and didn't take long to make an impact.

His hard work let in Luke Harvey whose cross was taken off Simon Austin's toe, just as the goal beckoned. 

However, Chatham didn't have to wait too long before pulling level.  A 63rd minute corner was not cleared first time by the Uxbridge defence as Denness got in a strong challenge and drilled the past a motionless John Peacock in the visitors goal.

At the other end Winston and Lake both forced decent saves from Kevin Fewell as the game went through a period of end to end attacks. 

The winner for Uxbridge came after 75 minutes in somewhat bizarre circumstances.  A heavy challenge in the Chatham penalty area had Uxbridge appealing for a penalty and Chatham probably fearing the worst. Everyone seemed to stop for a moment awaiting the referee's decision, except the visitors skipper Stuart Lake who calmly walked the ball into the open net.

Most people in the ground seemed to be looking at each other wondering what had happened until the Uxbridge players somewhat belatedly congratulated their goalscorer.

Both teams had chances in the closing minutes, but fine saves at either end by Fewell and Peacock prevented any further goals.

Chatham will be disappointed to have lost at home after such a good away win last week, whilst Uxbridge maintained their 100% record over Chats in the past two seasons and moved three places up the table.

Chatham Town:  Fewell, Binks, Mortimore (Searle 74), Boyle, Bourne, Best, Smith, Brooks, Harvey, Austin (Coleman 79), B.Walker (Denness 45).  Sub: Akhazzan.