A goal at the beginning of each half, gave Town victory over basement club Chorley, and propelled them up to twelfth place in the league table.
Simon Weaver gave Jon Stead his first start in a Town shirt and recalled George Smith to left back,while giving new loan signing,Jack Diamond,a place on the subs bench.
Town made a whirlwind start with Josh Falkingham firing at Billy Crellin within the first minute,before taking the lead with only four minutes on the clock.
The Magpie’s, Courtney Meppen-Walters,gave possession away in midfield,allowing Warren Burrell to find Ryan Fallowfield free on the right and his cross into the box was blasted high into the far corner of the net by Brendan Kiernan.
Town couldn’t maintain their explosive start and Chorley began to match them territorially without looking threatening.
It took the visitors until halfway through the half to make their first strike on goal when Chris Holroyd’s shot from twenty yards forced James Belshaw to dive to his left to beat the ball away.
As the half drew to its close,Mark Challoner’s foul on Town’s Jack Muldoon,presented Town with a free kick which Falkingham squared to Fallowfield and his superbly struck shot from over thirty yards out, forced Crellin to tip over the bar.
It took Town only until two minutes of the second period to double their advantage.
A cross from Fallowfield was headed back across goal by Stead and Muldoon nodded home from point blank range.
The visitors had little to show in attack,although a free kick from Meppen-Walters,after a foul on Ntumba Massanka,sailed wide of the angle.
Falkingham,who had received some rough treatment from the visiting defence,limped of to be replaced by Jack Emmett and Mark Beck replaced Stead.
The Magpie’s were still posing a threat,however,and Belshaw did well to tip a bicycle kick
from Josh O’Keefe over the bar.
Jack Diamond replaced Muldoon for the last ten minutes and he set up a late chance for Emmett who saw his shot charged down in the area.
This was more a workmanlike than brilliant performance from Town,but the three points will have put them in good heart for their long trip to Torquay at the weekend.
Town,
Belshaw,Fallowfield,Burrell,Falkingham(Emmett 65),W Smith,Hall,Brown,Kiernan,Stead(Beck 76),Muldoon(Diamond 80),G Smith.
Unused subs,Jones,Cracknell.
Scorers,Kiernan 4,Muldoon 47. Man of the Match Burrell.
Chorley,
Crellin,Challoner,Blakeman(Newby 47),Leather,Meppen-Walters,Baines,O’Keefe,Cottrell,Newby(Dodds 71),Holroyd(Carver 80),Massanka.
Unused subs,Teague,Ross.
Booked, Challoner,Leather. Att.792(inc 105 away)
Referee,T Parsons.
