Chatham belied their lowly league position to stun 4th place Dereham with an enthralling comeback win in stoppage time to beat their higher placed league rivals.

Two goals from Austin Gacheru and a late winner in stoppage time from Kieran Mccann gave the Chats the win that they deserved on the night.

Chatham started the game brightly and had the away side on the back foot from the off with Matt Solly firing just over the bar before Kieran Mccann shot over when picking up a loose ball in the area.

With 14 minutes gone, Chatham took the lead, Liam Hickey long diagonal ball found Mccann on the left who beat the full back before pulling the ball back to Ade Yusuff.

His left foot shot squirmed into the path of captain Gacheru who poked home. Dereham had a first shot of note soon after the home side took the lead. Shaun Bamment’s low cross was laid off by Kyle Downes to the Luke Tuttle who shot just wide.

After this frenetic opening period, the game settled down with both teams struggling with the surface as it began to cut up. On 25 minutes, the Chats almost went two ahead. Kieran Mccann cut inside his full back and unleashed a rasping drive that was well saved by Dereham goalkeeper Will Viner.

That was the last worthwhile effort of the first half but you would never have guessed it due to the excellent ‘ Chatham Shoe boys’ incessant singing throughout the game, providing the best atmosphere i’ve heard at a non league ground this year.

The second half continued much in the same way with Chatham doing most of the pressing. The impressive Ade Yussuff causing many problems for the away defence, And it was Yusuff who had two great chances in quick succession to double the Chats lead.

His first chance saw him pick up a loose ball 25 yards out on the inside left, beat his man before curling his shot off the underside of the bar and out again. Minutes later, Gacheru crossed from the left to find Yusuff whose twists and turns in the area led to a powerful shot which bought a fantastic saver to his right.

The game meandered towards the last 15 minutes where the game would go into overdrive again with Dereham equalising. A cross from the left was spilled by the home goalkeeper and after a scramble in the six yard area, Craig Bussens scrambled in under the keeper.

The goal was underserved on the balance of play but 5 minutes later, It was Dereham who took the lead when Shaun Bamment drilled home from the edge of the area with his left foot beyond Jack Bradshaw’s despairing drive. From the restart, Chatham equalised.

Yusuff ran down the right before crossing to the Gacheru 15 yards out, he turned and unleashed a left footed piledriver into the top right corner. A drawer was the least the home side deserved for their endeavour and the chats got a deserved winner in the first of 6 added minutes.

A long ball from the back found Yussuff clear and his ball across found Kieran Mccann unmarked 8 yards from goal and he sidefooted into the empty net to send the fans crazy and conga around the stadium and give the home side a deserved win.

Chatham: Bradshaw, Moraith-Gibbs, Benbow, Solly, Hickey, Knight, Yusuff, Potter, Gacheru, Hales, Mccann.