A promising first half led to a poor second half but it’s Chatham who took all three points at The Bauvill Stadium against bottom of the league Croydon FC. 
Report by Alfie Hill and Ethan Fergusson
Chatham got the game underway with a quick chance coming from Tom Fitzgerald. A corner on the 4th minute found Fitzgerald after Croydon who were unable to clear the ball from danger which allowed him to take the shot on, but his chance hit the post. Croydon then went up the other end and showed Chatham what they had in their locker with some nice play teeing them up for a chance which was flagged for offside on the 10th minute.
But this didn’t faze Chatham as they went up the other end and scored a fantastic goal. Some superb play allowed Harrison Carnegie to get into space, but he was closed down almost instantly on the 13th minute. When it looked as if the chance was stopped, Carnegie managed to push the ball forward which allowed him to strike a beautiful finesse shot from outside the box which floated straight past Sam Johnson-Freeman in goal.
Carnegie almost had the chance to make it two for him and two for The Chats just three minutes later. A great ball from FItzgerald found Carnegie but he was flagged for offside, otherwise he would have been clean through! Chatham looked as if they were going to hold the lead, but one quick mistake could lead to an equalizer and It almost did on the 21st minute. A mistake from Fitzgerald led to an almost costly chance for Croydon as they picked up the ball and burst forward with pace. However, Chatham were quick to recover and stopped the chance right in its tracks. Chatham then went forward and tried to get themselves a two-goal cushion and almost did after some superb play from Carnegie and Matt Parsons, but a weak cross was easily saved by Johnson-Freeman.
Croydon realized what Chatham were going for and really pushed for the equalizer. Dane Harriott almost gave them it on the 25th minute after a powerful shot from outside the box but it was met by Kleton Perntreou who leapt into action, pulling off a sublime save. Chatham continued to pile the pressure onto Croydon and almost had their second on the 32nd as Carnegie got another chance, but he took to many touches which made it easy for Johnson-Freeman to get into position and make a comfortable save. 
On the brink of half time, Chatham nearly got their second which was well deserved after their performance in the half. A free kick from Bodkin flew straight over the wall and just whistled past the post.
Josh Smith then blew his whistle to signify the end of a very good first half which led fans to believe that the second half was going to be very promising.
HALF TIME: Chatham Town 1 – 0 Croydon FC.
Croydon got us underway, but Chatham came out as the more attacking side with a quick chance coming from Bodkin on the 49th minute. A quick corner wasn’t cleared by Croydon which allowed the ball to fall straight to Bodkin, but his shot took a deflection and went out. Bodkin then got another chance to give Chatham their two-goal cushion with a free kick. He used the same technique as the one he used earlier on in the game and just like the other one, it just whistled past.
Croydon then went onto show Chatham what they could do from a free kick and almost scored from it on the 61st minute. A lovely low driven shot from Harriott flew into the box but was blocked. This block then led to a rebound but Perntreou was there to keep Chatham in the lead. But on the 72nd minute, Croydon scored however it was in the wrong net! A lovely cross from Jon Pilbeam was too hot to handle for Kayode Conteh whose clearance ended up in his own net.
The game then died down after this goal with neither team being able to find a clear-cut chance. Chatham pushed for a third, but all their chances were cut short due to some good defending by Croydon.
Josh Smith then blew his whistle to end a quite slow half, but Chatham will be happy to take all three points even though they could’ve grabbed some more goals!
FULL TIME: Chatham Town 2 – 0 Croydon FC.
Chatham Town: Kleton Perntreou, Danny Grant, Matt Parsons, Reece Butler, Richard Avery (Captain), Corey Walters-Wright, Jon Pilbeam, Tom Fitzgerald, Matt Bodkin, Byron Walker, Harrison Carnegie.
Subs: Paul Vines for Corey Walters-Wright (28th Minute), Sam Welch for Harrison Carnegie (65th Minute) and Fred Obasa for Matt Bodkin (79th Minute).
Subs not used: James Fray and Michael Hagan.
Yellow Cards: Byron Walker (41st Minute), Reece Butler (63rd Minute) and Tom Fitzgerald (69th Minute).
Red Cards: N/A
Croydon FC: Sam Johnson-Freeman, Anton McKenzie, Mohammed Dabo, James Fotheringham, Kayode Conteh, Tunde Owalabi, Jerome Walker, Richard White, Amh-War Tran-West, Dane Harriott, Noah Mungongo.
Subs: Tre Daley for Richard White (60th Minute), Levi Shango for Jerome Walker (70th Minute) and Danny Murley for Dane Harriott (82nd Minute).
Subs not Used: N/A.
Yellow Cards: Mohammed Dabo (8th Minute), Anton McKenzie (38th Minute), Dane Harriott (41st Minute) and Sam Johnson-Freeman (69th Minute).
Red Cards: N/A
Referee: Josh Smith.
Assistants: Simon Jackson and Matthew Grist.
Attendance: 158