Carden keeps Reds on target

By Staff Sports Reporter

SUPER sub Simon Carden's 76th-minute winner helped FC United squeeze past 10-man Chorley 2-1 at Gigg Lane and keep the pressure on the Division One North leaders.

The struggling visitors took a shock eighth-minute lead when Steve Burke punished defender Micah Bleau's mistake to grab the opener.

Despite Chorley having Gavin-Lee Ellison sent off on 21 minutes, the Rebels made hard work of getting back on level terms until Rory Patterson fired home his 23rd goal of the season with a low free kick on 40 minutes.

Fourth-placed United could easily have gone in at half-time in front as Rob Nugent and Chris Baguley both struck the crossbar in the space of 10 seconds before the break. But the home side had to wait until 14 minutes from the end before Carden converted Liam Foster's cross to seal the points.

Top-scorer Patterson had a chance to make the winning margin more when Carden was impeded in the penalty area, but the Reds top-scorer saw his spot-kick bounce back off the upright.

10:20am
14/01/2008