Chequers suffered a sixth straight defeat in all competitions to equal their worst ever losing streak after a 2-0 loss away to Leighton Lions at a blustery Pages Park.
The Purples lined up with Roullier in goal and a back four of Rob Mardell, Tom Tracy, Chris Fagan & Michael Towler. Michael Ryan, Alex Dell, Gavin O'Brien & Wayne Mardel made up the midfield, with Tom Smith again joining Dean Hinton in attack.
The game kicked off in high winds that favoured the direction that Chequers were shooting in the first half, however Lions made much the stronger start to the game. Roullier was forced into a diving save to his left early on, and the home side also had a goal correctly chalked off for offside in the opening minutes. A poor backpass from Fagan was almost capitalised upon, but the defender managed to recover just enough to get a challenge in amid loud claims for a penalty. Mardell then cleared from within the 6 yards box to avert a certain Lions goal, and somehow the home side found themselves still locked at 0-0. Chequers finally built up some momentum, first Hinton directed a glorious chance off target from within the penalty area and then Smith saw his powerful effort fly straight at the 'keeper. Set piece specialist Dell then curled a left-footed free kick around the wall from 25 yards which looked a certain goal, but a Lions defender acrobatically headed off the line. The away side was finally making the most of the favourable wind and forced their hosts back with a number of corners that amounted to nothing, although they did suffer a scare at the back when a Lions striker blazed over the bar from the angle following a counter attack. Goalless at half time, but deep down Chequers knew that they had not made the most of the strong wind and that Lions would now have it in their favour for the second half.
Lions were indeed keen to use the wind to their advantage wherever possible and launched a number of long balls towards the Chequers penalty area at the start of the second half. Fortunately most of these were easily dealt with by the defence, however the Purples were to shoot themselves in the foot on the hour mark. Towler intercepted the ball in the right back position but his left-foot clearance skewed awkwardly across the field into the path of Lions striker, who skipped past the challenge of Tracy and curled the ball into the bottom left hand corner to spark celebrations amongst the small band of home supporters. Chequers responded by introducing Tim Warne for Ryan, but in truth they were struggling to string two passes together and the Lions pressure continued. A striker, clean through on goal, clipped the ball past the stranded Roullier who gratefully watched the ball drift narrowly wide. Then the goalscorer raced clear and thumped a shot against the top of the crossbar, but the offside flag had been raised anyway. Lions came close to doubling their lead when a powerful 35 yard free kick was sent goalwards, but Roullier was just able to tip the ball over the bar. Mickey Francois replaced Hinton up front as Chequers desperately tried to create a chance, let alone score a goal, but the killer second goal came with five minutes remaining. Roullier saved a low shot from inside the penalty area but the Lions striker was quickest to react, collecting the rebound before rounding the stricken 'keeper and rolling into the empty net to seal the points.
Another disappointing result but things could, and perhaps should, have been very different had Chequers taken their first-half chances. They must now avoid defeat against Dunstable St. Mary's next Sunday to stop this becoming their outright worst losing streak.
Man of the Match went to Rob Mardell for an energectic performance and some excellent challenges.
