By James Briscoe
Nantwich Town winger Max Harrop crowned a man-of-the match performance with a goal in a 3-2 win over Rushall Olympic.
The victory sees the Dabbers continue to climb the Evo-Stik Premier table with a chance of making the play offs.
Harrop took full advantage of the windy conditions to curl a corner directly into the Rushall goal on 78 minutes, giving Nantwich a well deserved 3-1 lead.
Pics’ substitute Stan Mugisha reduced the deficit in added time but by then Danny Johnson’s side had comfortably bagged the points.
It had all started differently, though, with the visitors taking a 9th minute lead.
Debutant keeper Steven James did well to parry a shot from the edge of the box but former Crewe Alexandra striker Dele Adebola was on hand to crash home from close range.
As Nantwich struggled to adapt to the conditions, Ahmed Obeng could have made it 2-0 on 15 minutes but his shot from 20 yards was wide of the target.
Former Nantwich player Ryan Keen was remembered on 20 minutes when the 20th anniversary of the 19-year-old’s tragic death was commemorated with a minute’s applause from supporters.
Shortly after Aaron Burns tested Chris Gemmell in the visitors’ goal as the Dabbers fought their way back into the game.
Harrop drilled a 25 yard free-kick straight into the wall before Nantwich equalised two minutes before half-time.
Ben Deegan slipped the ball into the path of Burns whose sharp strike from the edge of box was spilled by Gemmell and Mark Jones reacted quickly to smash home into the roof of the net.
With the wind at their backs, Nantwich dictated play in the second-half and it came as no surprise when they went ahead on the hour mark.
Andy Keogh’s corner caused mayhem in the box and Burns stabbed home at the back post for his 19th goal of the season.
Harrop’s spectacular corner then had the Dabbers coasting to victory but Mugisha made it 3-2 with a late close range tap in after another fine save from James.
It was an impressive display from the hard-working Nantwich side in difficult conditions and stretches the Dabbers unbeaten league run to six games ahead of Saturday’s visit to Worksop.
Nantwich: James, Pearson, White, Keogh, Davis, Bailey, Clayton, Jones (capt), Burns, Deegan, Harrop. Subs: Frost, Foster (for Deegan,71), Wilson, Abadaki (for Burns,83), Devenney (for Clayton,88).
(pic courtesy of Simon J Newbury Photography)
Recent Comments