It’s never simple with Chapeltown FC. Before the game, we spoke about righting wrongs from last season, about proving not just to the rest of the teams but to ourselves that we are a top team. We wanted a fast start, with energy and intent built upon from our stellar performance against these last week. We went 1-0 down after 30 seconds.

Conceding early was a nasty habit that we picked up in the latter end of last season. The difference today however was that instead of heads going down, accepting that yet again we were on track to lose the game, we instead used it as a wake up call. The response was tremendous. It took us 10 minutes or so to get into the game and to adapt to the 3-5-2 which is still new to many of us, but we improved with every passage of play as the half went on.

The Roos showed particular threat from set pieces. We’d came close a handful of times with Hurst and Brennan the obvious targets, but it wasn’t until the 35th minute that we finally capitalised. Yet another top delivery into the box from Price, who appears to be thriving in this wing back role, was met perfectly by Hurst in what is quickly becoming a classic Hurst header, looping back the way the ball came from into the top corner. We knew we’d worked so hard to recover from the early goal, and truly deserved to be back in the game.

The referee, in a move I’ve not seen before, came up to me during a quiet moment and said he couldn’t believe our response to going behind so early. He thought it would be a roll over, but we’d ended up the better team.

The second half saw us have to adapt to a different way of playing. Usually Chapeltown have plenty of the ball and like to dictate possession if they can, but with us only having one sub and the opposition a full 16 man squad, they could bring on fresh legs while ours tired. We dug in, with the defence making more headers than you can count, the midfielders working to their limit to protect our back line, and the attackers busting a gut whenever we had the chance of a counter.

Our stalwart defence began to frustrate Old Crown. Admittedly, they had had the bigger chances in the game, missing an open net, hitting the woodwork and having one cleared off the line. In a somewhat naive move, they began to commit more and more men forward, knowing that our defence wouldn’t break. They brought on extra attackers and then, during a late set piece, left it 2v2 at the back. Chester and Skinner. The ball broke from our box to the feet of Chester, back on after the gaffer brought him off for a 10 minute breather to give him some fresher legs exactly for a moment like this in the dying embers of the game. A lovely through ball to Skinner who kept his line well, and of all the players you want in that situation, it’s Ruari Skinner. Dinking the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper, he peeled off into the corner and everyone went wild.

90 minutes of hard work and determination, running and fighting for each other, knowing that we could get a result if we banded together in the tougher parts of the game. There is simply no more that a manager could want from his players. A special performance that sets us up for a strong start to the season.

Congratulations to James Marlow, winning both the manager’s and the players’ MOTM, and to Harry Hurst who picked up the sponsors pick after they came to watch at the start of our partnership with them.

The Chapeltown FC press office would like to apologise for the delay in todays match report. There is a lot more to do after the game on match days than friendlies that the press secretary completely forgot about so had to sort that, and then the beacon was lit for our official eSports team to assemble on Pro Clubs. We’ve been promoted to Div 2, huge congratulations to everyone involved in that.