A frantic start saw both sides begin to pepper the 18-yard boxes with crosses and diagonal long balls, but the scrappy nature of the early stages didn’t bring about much for either Wanderers or the visitors inside the first ten minutes.

Just after the game moved into double digits, a goalmouth scramble ensued inside the Chelmsford box, which started with Charlie Carter rising highest to knock the ball down and finished with Dan Gallagher trying to scramble any sort of shot goalwards, only for his effort to end up going out for a Dorking corner.

Diagonal long balls down the flanks seemed to be the way for us to get forward, with Jimmy Muitt finding so much joy down the right-hand side and latching onto a Milsom long ball. However, his cut-back to Charlie Carter saw the latter’s shot end up in the hands of Ted Collins.

The same passages of play created another big chance for Wanderers as a lovely move, which started with Rob Milsom down the right and moved to Muitt delivering a pinpoint cross to Alfie Rutherford, but his header sailed just wide of the far post.

Against the run of play, it was the visitors who got in front as Kane Crichlow robbed the ball from Josh Brooking and drove into the box to strike at goal. After his effort was deflected away by Tony Craig, it fell to Archie Tamplin on the edge of the box, who drilled the ball fiercely into the bottom left corner. 0-1

Wanderers then came knocking again, and after Jason Prior’s header sailed just right of the top corner, there was a goal coming, and even after going a goal behind, this game was far from done. Prior then had another effort with five minutes to go before half-time from a similar area, but this time, his tame header was claimed by Collins.

The warning signs were coming for Chelmsford, but they kept ignoring them and allowed Jordan Norville-Williams to let fly from distance after cutting away from a defender. His bouncing effort flashed centimetres wide.

Frustration kept coming for Wanderers as the first half drew to a close, with two big chances going by—Carter drilled a strike across goal wide, and Jimmy Muitt’s clear-cut chance saw his half-volley effort sail over the bar. As much as the chances were coming, we went into the break on the wrong side of a 1-0 game.

HALF-TIME: DORKING WANDERERS 0-1 CHELMSFORD CITY

Marc White made a double change at half-time in an attempt to turn this game around, as Brennan Camp and Josh Taylor entered the fray. The former linked up with Muitt to help win a penalty just two minutes into the second half. With Camp in behind, his cut-back to Josh Taylor saw our number 17 tripped a few yards from goal, and Charlie Carter dispatched the penalty into the bottom left corner to bring us back on level terms. 1-1

Our rapid second-half start wasn’t done there, however, as we overturned the one-goal deficit just two minutes after the restart. After Josh Taylor picked up the ball just after halfway, Alfie Rutherford latched on and broke away from the Chelmsford defence, finding himself one-on-one with Collins. From there, you knew exactly what was going to happen next—and Alfie made it happen, rounding the goalkeeper and slotting home to spark wild celebrations in The Bank. 2-1

It could’ve been three just seconds later after Brennan Camp’s header crashed against the crossbar from six yards out, and with Jordan Greenidge firing a volley over from 20 yards out, the game started to fizzle out and calm down after the frantic nature of the first ten minutes of the second half.

But after all of our hard work, it came undone on the hour mark as Chelmsford drew level through Nico Valentine. After some fantastic work from Kane Crichlow on the edge of the box, he broke away from Tony Craig and played the extra pass over to the Clarets winger, who fired beyond an onrushing Harrison Foulkes into the far corner. 2-2

A huge roll of the dice was required from us, and Marc White made our final three changes, with Matt Briggs, Morgan Williams, and Niall McManus coming on for Dan Gallagher, Jordan Norville-Williams, and Jimmy Muitt. However, the biggest chances came Chelmsford’s way, with two big opportunities falling to Kane Crichlow and substitute Finlay Wilkinson—the latter firing wide from close range and Crichlow hitting a tame effort straight into Foulkes’ hands when he looked certain to score.

But then it was our turn to come forward again, and the chances kept coming. Alfie Rutherford rattled the upright again with a fierce volley that cannoned off the left post, while multiple crosses flashed across the face of the Clarets’ goal but agonisingly couldn’t find a finishing touch.

We then hit the woodwork again, this time through Carter, who got on the end of a cut-back to fire low from the edge of the box, striking the left post. The ball was going everywhere but the back of the net for Wanderers, and time was running out to get a winner that, in the circumstances, was desperately needed.

With six minutes of added time, bodies surged towards The Bank, and with four minutes played, Jason Prior rose highest to meet a cross from the left, but Collins got across fantastically to deny what was the biggest chance of added time.

Unfortunately, despite all our effort to push for a winner—and even with Harrison Foulkes scoring from his own box with Collins up for the corner—honours ended even in what was a fantastic advert for the National League South.

FULL-TIME: DORKING WANDERERS 2-2 CHELMSFORD CITY