Hear what Glenn Pennyfather had to say after the game by clicking here.

 

Matthew Lock, Ricky Holmes and Rob Edmans got on the score sheet as Glenn Pennyfather’s City romped to a commanding three-goal victory at Melbourne, the second-placed Clarets taking full advantage of their closest rivals who were competing against each other elsewhere in the Blue Square South.

 

The hosts made light work of a dispirited Bishop’s Stortford outfit, who were reduced to ten men on 67 minutes when Laibas Lette Jallow was shown his marching orders. Yet Chelmsford were already dominant beforehand as they created a plentiful supply of opportunities, taking three to put tem in pole position for a play-off berth.

 

Pennyfather said: “It’s been a while since we’ve dominated like that at home although, that said, we dominated against Newport only today we got our rewards in a local derby. It was the excellent, strong team performance I’ve been asking for and we competed for everything. It could have been more in the end if we’d have shown more composure in vital areas or that final ball, but you only get three points for winning a game.”

 

City’s side was reshuffled to make way for the return of centre-half Ben Martin in the absence of fellow defender Marlon Patterson through suspension. Lock filled that left-back position with Steve Clark moving back across to right full-back having played so admirably in the centre the week before at Maidenhead United. Anthony Cook, at right-back last time out, moved back into his more familiar wide midfield role as a result.

 

Glenn’s side were instantly in control, Ricky Modeste collecting the ball on the left and playing it in to Edmans whose shot on the turn veered wide. This was quickly followed by Dave Rainford’s low, dragged effort wide and Modeste’s own rasper from distance which warmed the palms of goalkeeper Nicky Morgan, all within a frantic five minutes.

 

Though Chelmsford didn’t have long to wait for their first goal. A foul just outside the box earned them a 13th-minute free-kick and Lock executed a perfect strike around the wall into the top corner, out of the reach of Morgan’s tall frame. City were then hungry for more on 29 minutes when Holmes nicked the ball off a defender, sprinted into the space in front of him and squared into the danger zone only to see it nicked away.

 

Stortford’s figure for shots on or off target in the entire game could be counted on one hand and the closest they came was through Scott Shulton in the 34th minute. He turned and shot first-time out of nothing from 25 yards and his lofty effort just received a slight touch by City stopper Ashley Harrison who ensured it rapped the post. It would have been a blow to Chelmsford’s spirit had it have crept in, but they fared differently.

 

When Rainford dropped a well-weighted pass over the top and in front of Holmes six minutes prior to half-time, the Clarets’ hot-shot raced onto it via some skilful chest control, fended-off the attentions of two back-tracking defenders and poked wide of Morgan for the second. Cook tried his luck just afterwards, getting the ball out of his feet and striking over from distance, though City had built a comfortable interval lead.

 

For the first third of the second half the visitors managed to contain Chelmsford a little better though Lock eventually found an opening, half-hitting an effort into the body of Morgan. A neat one-two between Holmes and Cook then generated a chance for the latter who shot right-footed and wide though the final nail in Stortford’s coffin came when Lette Jallow was foolishly sent off for abusive language on 67 minutes.

 

Matters were made worse for them within four minutes, a throw-in heading into the penalty area under the guidance of Cook then Edmans put his foot through the ball from ten yards, slamming it into the bottom right-hand corner. From this point it was purely a case of how many would be scored and Holmes followed this by dribbling into the goalmouth and laying back to Edmans who trickled onto the foot of the post.

 

Three substitutions in quick succession introduced fresh legs to the side then Rainford was unlucky to see his goalbound, bullet header from a Holmes corner nodded back out by Ben Nunn from beneath the crossbar. Holmes also assisted substitute Jordan Pavett and Cook inside the final ten minutes to no avail, with Ollie Berquez squirming another strike wide of the far post and Cook again firing off-target when well positioned.

 

On another day, these could have proved crucial, though Pennyfather heralded the performance of his squad and welcomed a sixth straight match without letting a goal in. He explained: “We conceded a lot or our goals early in the season and it’s something we’ve focussed on and rectified. There aren’t many teams left who have conceded less than us. Clean sheets are vital for any team to do well and be successful.”

 

City:

 

1 Ashley Harrison

2 Steven Clark

3 Matthew Lock

4 Ben Martin

5 Steve Ward

6 Dave Rainford (C)

7 Ollie Berquez

8 Anthony Cook

9 Rob Edmans

10 Ricky Modeste

11 Ricky Holmes

 

12 Josh Brown

14 Mark Haines (On for Ward, 76)

15 John Martin (On for Clark, 81)

16 Jordan Pavett (On for Edmans, 79)

19 Lewis Batchford (GK)

 

Bishop’s Stortford: Nicky Morgan, Ben Nunn, Matt Jones (C), Laibas Lette Jallow, Lynvall Duncan, Alex Bentley, Emmanuel Sackey (Jon Docker, 66), Scott Shulton, Leon Antoine, Jacob Erskine, Nicholas Muir (Charlie Simpson, 64). Unused Substitutes: Victor Boyle-Renner, Alli Abdullahi, Chris Sargent.

 

Bookings: City: Rainford (87, foul). Stortford: Shulton (25, dissent).

 

Sent Off: Stortford: Lette Jallow (67, abusive language).

 

Referee: Lee Venamore (Maidstone).

 

Assistant Referees: C Hatzikadis (Rochester) and Saul Kay (Sittingbourne).

 

Attendance: 982.

 

City Man of the Match: Dave Rainford.