City brushed aside their late arrival at Weston-super-Mare to move into the Blue Square Bet South top six thanks to strikes from Max Cornhill and Kezie Ibe despite only making it to Woodspring Park within an hour of kick-off, boss Glenn Pennyfather saying: “We were straight off the coach and straight out of the blocks!”

 

The players arrived on the Supporters’ Coach when their own transport broke down but they still recorded three points with a goal at each end of the game. Nat Pepperell drilled home for the Seagulls in injury time but Pennyfather said: “I thought we played very well considering we didn’t have long to warm-up and prepare. Weston were on a good run and they’re a decent team but we showed good shape, defended excellently and hit them well on the break.”

 

There were three alterations to the side which brought home a point from Staines Town in midweek as Ben Nunn returned at right full-back in place of Justin Miller. In central midfield, Sam Corcoran came in for Jermaine Brown while injured winger Ricky Modeste had his shirt filled by Greg Morgan. On the bench was Anthony Cook, who had recovered from months out.

 

The Clarets, who have been building a reputation for scoring plenty of early goals so far this season, contributed another on just 3 minutes. Corcoran played the ball wide to Warren Whitely who provided a brilliant near post cross which Cornhill hammered into the back of the net. After a quarter of an hour Corcoran could have netted another himself when he got on the end of a further ball across from six yards but goalkeeper Lloyd Irish knocked his shot over.

 

Weston had made a decent start to the campaign themselves after a shocking first two games and they generated some decent moves of their own though Chelmsford mostly had the upper hand, Aiden Palmer having a later effort saved by Irish. One of the hosts’ best chances to level arrived when right-back Jamie Price headed what he thought was an equaliser only to see his effort ruled-out for a foul. His protests landed him in Referee Ben Knight’s notebook.

 

Chelmsford’s desperation to keep a clean sheet was evidenced when Mark Haines made a last-ditch challenge to deny Weston, an act the young defender and Kenny Clark would each repeat in the second half. After the interval opportunities were otherwise limited although David Rainford made a chance for himself which fell on his wrong foot and he was unable to finish. One of the highlights, until the climax, was the return of Cook as a substitute, which delighted Glenn.

“Cookie is back far quicker than any of us imagined and he’s probably a month ahead of schedule,” the Clarets’ boss explained. “We managed to rearrange a reserve game which he excelled in and he’s worked so hard to get to this point. Sam and Greg coming into the side also did exceptionally well. We’ve prayed for a squad for so long and now we’ve got one and I have the luxury of being able to rotate some quality players and give our team some fresh legs.”

 

There was late drama at both ends to round-off a previously low-key fixture. Firstly, on 87 minutes, a free kick from replacement Miller was floated into the box and Cornhill headed back to team mate Ibe, who was able to guide the ball over the line with his torso. Then, in the final minute, Weston replied as Pepperell fired what proved to be a consolation with power into the corner beyond helpless ‘keeper Carl Pentney. The three deserved points elevated City into sixth.

 

“Another plus for us was the performance of Dave Rainford, who does a lot of work which people don’t see and we need players like Rains to perform if we’re to be successful,” Glenn reacted. “We have another two tough home games coming up and all the focus is now on Monday and Tonbridge Angels, who won well today. I’ll be assessing the reports from their match first thing in the morning and work on our game plan as we’re fully geared towards a win.”

 

City:

 

1 Carl Pentney

2 Ben Nunn

3 Aiden Palmer

4 Mark Haines

5 Kenny Clark

6 David Rainford (C)

7 Warren Whitely

8 Sam Corcoran

9 Cliff Akurang

10 Max Cornhill

11 Greg Morgan

 

12 Joe Benjamin

14 Jermaine Brown

15 Anthony Cook (On for Whitely, 70)

16 Kezie Ibe (On for Akurang, 67)

17 Justin Miller (On for Palmer, 74)

 

Weston-super-Mare: Lloyd Irish, Jamie Price, Martin Slowcombe, Dayle Grubb, Jak Martin, Jamie Laird, Kane Ingram, Nabio Diallo, Mike MacKay (Sahr Kabba, 61), Chris Young (Ben Hunt, 83), Nat Pepperell. Unused Substitutes: Matt Huxley, Ben Kirk, George Booth.

 

Bookings: City: Rainford (44, delaying the restart of play), Cook (72, foul). Weston: Ingram (28, dissent), Price (31, dissent), Diallo (45, foul).

 

Referee: Ben Knight (Waterlooville).

 

Assistant Referees: Derek Parsons and Anton Beavis.

 

Attendance: 431.

 

City Man of the Match: David Rainford.