Well, that was certainly disappointing. What looked to be a competitive fixture, with every chance for our boys to take all three points for the first time this season and the first time in their National League North history, quickly turned into a laugher in the second half today with the team, unfortunately, unraveling and falling away to Chorley FC by a final score of 3-0.

As we mentioned in our Know Your Enemy report for this game, we believed that this was a chance to keep the momentum going from the strong performance on the weekend against Tamworth and a real chance to pick up the first three point performance of the season against a team in Chorley who, frankly, were not playing up to their standards yet this year as they had only been able to scrounge together one point in their first three games, a far cry from their near promotion form last year.

Unfortunately, like with Gloucester City on the first day of the season, the game slipped away and a very winnable game on the road turned into defeat. Unlike the Gloucester game, however, it is difficult to find any positives to take from this performance that, from what we can tell, was sloppy and uninspired, a far cry from the three solid performances the team had put together to begin the season and especially the last two games, when the team put together fantastic performances against Tamworth and Stockport County.

Quite simply, the team wasn’t good enough today and it showed on the field.

So what happened today at Chorley? The game began nice enough, with a confident start from our lads in the first few minutes before the game took its first turn in the wrong direction with Chorley, with what has been described as a soft goal after some lax defending, took a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute of the game. That only served to embolden Chorley who took the first goal and immediately began to push for a second one.

However, around the 40 minute mark FC United began to find their way in the game with several good efforts in a short span, including one ball which was only kept out by the crossbar that would have tied the game just before halftime, but it was not to be today. Despite the strong close to the first half, our boys entered the break with Chorley possessing what can only be considered a deserved lead.

Much like the start of the game, the second half started brightly enough for the Rebels, with FC United starting the half with some purpose and trying to get on the front foot. However, that was undone completely in the 55th minute when Jerome Wright picked up his second yellow of the game and our Captain was sent off for the second straight match. Facing a goal deficit and now down a man, the math, unfortunately, did not appear to be in favor of our boys.

As can be expected, it did not take long for Chorley to capitalize on their man advantage as, just five minutes later, they doubled their lead to 2-0 after a breakaway for Darren Stephenson. The match was, essentially, ended in the 88th minute when Chorley scored again to take a commanding 3-0 lead with just a few minutes left to play in front of the announced crowd of 1,876.

When the match ended, there was certainly disappointment on our side as the team was just not good enough today and, ultimately, were undone by lax defending and another red card for the Captain.

This is one result where, as I mentioned earlier, it is hard to find positives to take out of it. However, we are loyal and this is but one game in a long season. Onward to better things for our boys as the season gets going.

Last 10 games: LLDL

Current Table Position: 21st

So what’s up next? Our boys return home to continue league play on Saturday, when they host Brackley Town at 3PM. It will be another exciting day in Broadhurst Park and a chance to get this season turned around and heading in the right direction.