Running through the borough's villages (From The Bolton News)

Running through the borough's villages

CHORLEY 3 PRESTON PHOENIX 1 CHORLEY were determined to remain near the top of the women's league before this game and started by forcing keeper Louise Smith to make a fine save from a 25-yard free kick by Danni Toward.

But Phoenix soon got the measure of their opponents and started pressing forward.

On 22 minutes they came close to opening the scoring when a cleverly worked free kick led to a looping header which struck the post and the Chorley defence were forced to scramble the ball clear from the rebound.

Five minutes later, the home team struck back with a super flowing move, starting with Debbie Kirkman in midfield, then Jo Schofield on the right wing who crossed into the box where Janet Gilder curled her shot around the diving keeper.

The goal gave Chorley extra confidence and they started to take control of the game, but not without the odd scare, and they had to work hard to maintain their lead.

With the energetic Liz Thompson playing up front alongside Gilder and Sharon Schofield, Chorley always looked likely to score again.

They eventually stretched their lead just before half-time, when Gilder knocked in a second with a looping left-foot shot from the tightest of angles.

After the interval, Chorley went on the offensive immediately and increased their lead within five minutes when Sharon Schofield took on the defence and struck a sweet shot which squeezed in between the keeper and the near post.

At 3-0, Chorley took their foot off the gas and let the visitors dictate the style and pace of the game.

It was not long before Phoenix took the initiative and scored when a defensive blunder let them in for an easy goal.

With 35 minutes of the game remaining, Chorley had to be careful not to let the visitors score again and bolstered their defence with a few timely substitutes by manager Karl Rigby.

The fresh legs made the difference and Chorley ran out the victors adding three more points to their tally and keeping them close to the top of the league.

Next Sunday they are at home to play Brazil of Liverpool. Kick off is at 2pm, Charter Lane, Charnock Richard.

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