Chorley Bow Out To Last-Gasp Ten-Man Fleetwood

Now, he is cutting himself quite a decent name for himself as a manager with Vanarama National League North club Chorley since taking over from Garry Flitcroft in the summer of 2015.

On Monday night, he led his Magpies side into the First Round of the Emirates FA Cup in front of the live BT Sport cameras against SkyBet League One side Fleetwood Town at Victory Park.

And his team certainly didn`t let him down in a thrilling tie in which the home side had much the better of the play, especially in an opening 45 minutes which they largely dominated without managing to break the deadlock.

So, in front of a crowd of 3,500, it was the Magpies who did eventually take the lead just shy of the hour-mark when a loose ball in the box was pounced upon by Marcus Carver and he beat Alex Cairns in the Cod Army goal to make it 1-0 and an upset was very much on.

However, the turning point in the game arrived after 69 minutes when Fleetwood`s Lewis Coyle was shown a straight red card for diving in on Jake Cottrell with stud showing.

Instead of that having a detrimental affect on the visitors, it seemed to do the opposite and seemed to galvanise them.

And 8 minutes later, they were back on level terms when Devante Cole – son of former Manchester United and Newcastle star Andrew – headed Wes Burns` cross past the Magpies` debutant `keeper Ollie Byrne.

But it looked like it was going to be back to Highbury for another game, until the first minute of stoppage time when Chorley hearts were broken by Fleetwood sub Jack Sowerby, who managed to get in between keeper and defenders to net from close range.

So it will be Fleetwood who will host Evo-Stik League South Premier side Hereford FC In the Second Round.

(AGB Photo)