REPORT | CHATHAM TOWN 2 HAWKS 1

 

Hawks were missing the suspended duo of Stefan Wright and Destiny Ojo, with Grant Hall also sitting the game out with a leg injury. Joel Daly and Florian Kastrati filled in as full backs, with Hugo Odogwu-Atkinson moving into the centre of defence. Chief was also not 100% and so took his place on the bench.

 

Given the makeshift look of the Hawks back four it was perhaps no surprise that the Chats made a number of half chances right from the kick off. Matt Macarthur, returning after a spell out injured, looked especially threatening down the right and he opened the scoring after 10 minutes, beating Lennon MacLorg at this near post from just inside the box after he had skipped past Charlie Harris.

 

Hawks equalised out of the blue six minutes later when Aidoo cleared Kastrati’s ball into the box straight to Harry Lodovica. He finished with a left foot shot into the bottom corner, to send the ten loyal Hawks fans at that end into raptures. That was Lodovica’s seventh of the season.

 

Chats continued to drive forward and they restored their lead with a superb individual goal by midfielder Ollie Hobden. Picking the ball up inside his own half from the keeper, he played a one two with Macarthur, before driving on to the edge of the box, where another one-two, this time with Nile Ranger, put him through to finish comfortably past MacLorg.

 

Hawks gradually grew into the game in the second half, especially after Joel Daly had switched to central midfield and the tiring Macarthur had been replaced on 70 minutes.  But it was a similar story to last Saturday, this time without any clearcut chances, with plenty of long balls and corners into the Chats’ box, most of them dealt with comfortably by Reece Butler’s head or the capable hands of Nathan Harvey.