MATCH REPORT: Points shared with Padiham

Written by Jacob Jones

It was a hard fought 1-1 draw with in form Padiham. We had to show great character once again after going a goal down early on; Brad Ditch was the hero of the afternoon, getting us back on level terms on his debut.

There were four changes to our starting eleven, marquee signing Brad Ditch came in for his Chad debut. Tyler Berry also came back into the mix, along with returns for Barlow and Muis.

There was a great tempo to the start of this game, as expected with the two team's league positions. Matty Crother's ball found Muis in the box early on who’s header was comfortable for the Padiham goalkeeper.

It was in the thirteenth minute where Padiham took the lead, capitalising on a poor pass from our defence, the cross was met by an unstoppable header inside of the box.

We were not disheartened by this however, continuing to put pressure on our opponents for the remainder of the half, chances came the way of Barlow, Muis and Ryan Morton before the halftime interval.

The second half was bright for us, continuing to create chances and being denied what could have easily been deemed a penalty after Morton was tripped inside of the box.

But it was Brad Ditch who got us back in the game, making it a debut to remember, the corner was whipped in and greeted with an unstoppable bullet header from our new addition, leaving the goalkeeper with absolutely no chance of keeping it out.

There was a sense of unease in our opposition after our equaliser, slowing down the game at any opportunity that they got as we looked to push on and find a winner, which unfortunately was not to be.

Overall, the points were shared in a game where we knew the quality of our opponents but also knew it was a game we could not afford to lose, with the playoff race heating up. We now look ahead to our semi final clash with Irlam on Wednesday night.

#UpTheChad