Martin brace hands victory to Drayton
Two goals in almost as many minutes from Desean Martin were the highlights of Market Drayton Town’s rare 2-0 victory at Chasetown – but it was their performance throughout that won praise from manager Martyn Davies, writes Terry Morris.
“The lads were fantastic from start to finish,” said Davies. “They played really well, fending off their attacks and playing the ball forward better than at any time this this season.
“Chasetown have the sort of players who will always find a little space, a pocket here or there from which to cause you trouble.
“But we pinched out that aspect of their game so well we could actually take more time picking our own passes – which made a world of difference.
“That’s not always been the case,”Davies added. “Often we’ve had to concentrate on just getting the ball away under pressure. On Saturday we showed we can really play – and if we had been just a little more clinical in the final third I think we could have had another couple of goals to emphasise that.”
Chasetown had their problems with finishing too for they had enjoyed several half chances in a bright start before Martin caught them out.
His first goal, on 22 minutes, came from a classic counter-attack. Drayton cleared a free kick from Danny Cocks and suddenly there was Martin chasing through to fire a hard low shot under home keeper Curtis Pond.
His second, just a minute later, was a gift. The luckless Pond made a complete hash of things as he ventured outside his area and Martin was left with the simple task of rolling the ball into Chasetown’s unattended net.
The keeper went a long way towards making amends in the early stages of the second half when his superb save robbed the rampaging Martin of a hat-trick and kept his side in with a shout.
That shout, however, never amounted to more than pleas for a penalties against Jake Lovett and then Cocks together with shots by George Carter and Muzzy Nduna that stretched Town keeper Ash Rawlins, none of which really threatened Drayton’s by then confident hold on affairs.
Drayton have another Evo-Stik NPL West derby on Wednesday evening at Kidsgrove. On recent results a goal spree can be expected – the sides have shared 15 goals, five from Town, in their last three meetings.
