By Liam Price, photos by Jonathan White
Nantwich Town made it 11 unbeaten at home with a comfortable 3-0 win over Chasetown at the Swansway Stadium.
Joel Connolly was suspended, and Callum Saunders and Byron Moore injured, with 3 changes to the side that lost at Atherton.
A very early scramble saw the ball zip wide from the Dabbers with Paddy Jarrett involved.
It was still early when the first big moment happened. A long diagonal ball was angled towards Byron Harrison; Chasetown keeper Curtis Pond came charging out and collided heavily with Harrison, leaving him flat on his back. The referee pointed straight to the penalty spot, which on watching the replay was the only decision.
Whether it was planned or due to still being shaken by the challenge, Harrison didn’t step up for the penalty, the first Nantwich have had all season. Instead it was Joe Robbins who hit it straight down the middle to make it 1-0 to the Dabbers.
Another fitness blow came as Ben Hockenhull, a lynchpin of the defence so far this season, was forced off with injury just after the 20 minute mark.
Joey Butlin hit a free kick into the wall for the Scholars before the rebound was claimed by Ben Garratt.
Hockenhull had been replaced by Josh Williams and Williams created a couple of further opportunities with his long throw ins.
One ended with Jarrett firing wide, and another saw Pond come out again to punch, this time to Robbins who lifted the ball over the unguarded goal.
The attacking play from the Dabbers had been superb, perhaps the best of the season, but it was just as it looked as if it was fizzling out towards half time that they managed to double the lead.
Some good play down the right looked as if it was coming to nothing, until Aidy Roxburgh took the ball on towards the byline and pulled it across to Perry Bircumshaw who finished at close range. Full back to full back doing the trick nicely for the Dabbers.
The pair were at it again separately in the second half. Before that, Kelvin Mellor’s acrobatic overhead kick was sent over the crossbar.
Bircumshaw tested Pond at his near post with another effort; Perry has played under 4 Nantwich managers and has never looked better in terms of his attacking output than he does under Jon Moran.
The Dabbers’ third goal came just 8 minutes into the second period. Roxburgh was heavily involved again, in a similar way to the second goal he charged down the right and this time found Alex Panter, who with his back to goal swivelled and let fly off his weaker left foot; it pinged off the crossbar and bounced down. The Nantwich players were convinced it was over the line and the assistant quickly confirmed this. Panter 6th goal of an impressive season so far.
Garratt had very little to do in the game, he made a simple save from a long range effort just past the hour mark.
Jarrett was a lively presence out there again, a break and shot from him was held by Pond.
Alex Bradley fired well wide for a lacklustre Chasetown side. It was hard to believe you were watching a team who were top of the NPL West as recently as a week before this game. The bedrock of that had been the defence; in their first 9 league games they had conceded just 4 goals. But against the Dabbers and Bury in the game prior, they had now conceded 7 in 2 games.
Pond ended the game as he had started it, coming a long way and making a mess of trying to clear; this time the ball spinning out for a throw in as Panter bore down on goal.
An excellent win for the Dabbers and that home form continues to build. Moran has only lost 3 league games at the Swansway since taking the reigns over a year ago. It’s now the best unbeaten run at home in all competitions since October 2018; now for that away form.
Teams
Nantwich Town: Ben Garratt, Aidy Roxburgh, Perry Bircumshaw (Reece Vaughan, 89), Kelvin Mellor (C), Ben Hockenhull (Josh Williams, 24), Paddy Kennedy, Alex Panter, Joe Robbins, Byron Harrison (Rui Clarke-Phillips, 82), Fenton Green, Paddy Jarrett (Harry Bower, 69)
Sub not used: Jon Moran
Goals: Robbins (8, pen), Bircumshaw (45+1), Panter (53)
Chasetown FC: Curtis Pond, Sam Griffiths (Alex Bradley, 65), Jordan Evans (Joe Dunne, 61), Kieran Fenton, Nathan Cameron (C), Sam Wilding, Mitchell Clarke (Max Chimenes, 46), Todd Ferrier (Tom Thorley, 65), Joey Butlin, Joe Thompson (Jack Langston, 46), Ty Webster
Attendance: 354