It really was a case of ‘One for sorrow, two for joy’ at Victory Park as the Magpies’ unbeaten home record stretching back to the beginning of March was shattered by a buoyant Boston team who took a stranglehold on this game right from the start.

And the Magpies’ task became harder after just ten minutes with the loss through injury of influential centre-back and skipper Andy Teague.

It got even worse for the home side as on-loan keeper Dan Nizic picked up an injury which left him hobbling throughout the second half.

The bare scoreline does not fully reflect Boston’s supremacy.

They could have been at least three up by half-time and Mark Ross’s goal for Chorley two minutes into added time was no more than a consolation for the Magpies who had toiled in vain to open up a stout defence.

Early on, Nizic parried a fierce drive from Dayne Southwell and the visitors’ centre-back Scott Garner headed inches over from Southwell’s cross as Boston made the running.

They deservedly went ahead from a superb counter-attack on 34 minutes

A terrific cross-field ball from the left to the opposite flank picked out Kaine Felix who showed expert ball-control before swinging over a centre headed in by Southwell at the far post.

The Magpies then had an escape when Nizic raced out to clear but saw the ball rebound off Felix and bounce just wide of the gaping goal.

To underline the Pilgrims’ ascendancy, Garner struck the home bar – all this before Chorley’s first attempt on goal, a Jake Cottrell snap-shot from just outside the box which flew high over.

There was little change in the pattern of play after the interval and the lively Felix doubled Boston’s lead in the 56th minute with an angled drive which deflected off Ross and wrong-footed Nizic.

The closest Chorley came was a hectic scramble in the visitors’ box resulting in keeper Joel Dixon finally smothering the ball.

Boston remained comfortably in control until with time almost up a right-wing corner at last gave home fans in another excellent Victory Park crowd of 1,114 something to cheer.

After Dale Whitham’s shot from short range was blocked, Ross was first to react and stabbed home the rebound.

By a quirk of the fixture-list the Magpies travel to Boston for the return on Saturday with the two teams now locked on 27 points in fourth and fifth place.