CORFE MULLEN 1

CHICKERELL UNITED 2

CHICKERELL United secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over n-form Corfe Mullen United in the Dorset Senior League.

The victory was the Chickens’ third straight victory despite only playing three times in the last eight weeks.

Corfe Mullen were the dominant force in the opening period, dominating play and forcing Chickerell back into their own half for large periods of the game.

Both of the visitors’ goals were nearly carbon-copies of each other in their build-up, catching the hosts on the counter with excellent play from midfield finding Warren White, who looked composed as he went one-on-one with the keeper before coolly slotting both opportunities home to give the Chickens a 2-0 lead at half-time.

Chickerell managed to see out the victory, limiting the hosts’ opportunities until the final minutes when Mullen scored a late consolation which was too little, too late to mount a comeback.

Speaking after the game, Chickerell manager Steve Coward was delighted with the win.

He said: “It was a good win for us. We were 2-0 up at half-time but didn’t play that well first-half.

“We put a couple of things right in the second half. Even though we didn’t score they never looked like getting a goal until the last minutes when we switched off.

“We played steady and managed to see the win out which was good because we haven’t been doing that this season. But we looked solid in the second half.

“This is only our second game in six weeks so it’s been a bit frustrating.

“The lads have had minimum minutes in eight weeks but it was good to get the game under their belts.

“Second half, we made sure we pressed higher and dominated the game. We were a little bit off the pace in the first half, but when we’ve only played so many minutes in so many weeks we just needed some time to get back into it because we were a bit rusty.

“It was a tough battle and there were some big tackles going in from both teams so it was a good test for us.”

Chickens: Bickerstaff, Sanderman, Bill, Welch, James, Harvey, Dewey, Etherington, Hansford, White, Why. Subs: Ryan, Miller