Chorley Town 2 Nuneaton Town 3

THERE was no joy for Magpies’ manager Matt Jansen in his first competitive match in charge at the end of a thoroughly entertaining contest.

Chorley paid for a slow start which allowed Nuneaton’s full-timers to race into a two-goal lead.

The visitors made the most of early midfield control and could have been even further ahead before Chorley got a foothold in the game.

Yet it was a different story after the break, with Nuneaton forced to withstand a bombardment of their goal.

Joe Maguire headed Nuneaton into a sixth-minute lead beforeAaron Williams, missed a clear chance to double the lead, firing against the advancing Sam Ashton’s legs after breaking clear.

But he showed his credentials on 34 minutes when set free by Callum Chettle’s incisive solo run, easily beating Ashton with a precisely-placed cross-shot.

Chorley got back into the game three minutes later with a fine goal. James Dean played in Josh Hine down the right and he raced to the by-line before cutting the ball back to Marcus Carver who headed into the back of the net.

Urged on by the majority of a crowd of 1,011, the home side were now well on top, but against the run of play, Nuneaton grabbed a third through David Morgan.

Chorley responded and on 86 minutes Hine deservedly got on the scoresheet but Nuneaton hung on.