Chorley face Worcester replay after late leveller and Stowell booking after the whistle

Sunday 18 October 2026 · By Keith Ormsby

Chorley will travel to Worcester City for an FA Cup fourth qualifying round replay on Tuesday night, after a stoppage-time equaliser denied them a place in the first round on Saturday.

Mike Calveley gave Andy Preece’s side the lead in the 40th minute, according to the club’s report. Max Hunt’s driven ball into the box was not cleared, and Calveley tapped into an empty net from a few yards out. Chorley had started strongly, with Hunt and Sam Fielding both going close with early headers.

Worcester, managed by Chris Cornes and a step below Chorley, grew into the game, and Li-Bau Stowell had to make several saves. In the 93rd minute, with their goalkeeper up for a corner, City scrambled home an equaliser through Josh Ezewele.

Worcester are Preece’s former club, which added to the occasion. Chorley also lost midfielder Jack Hazlehurst, who went off at half-time with a suspected hamstring injury.

There was more trouble after the final whistle. Stowell was shown a second yellow card, which the club said came after he “expressed his frustrations with the referee”. The Lancashire Post described it as dissent and said it had left Chorley with a goalkeeping headache. Whether Stowell is suspended for Tuesday’s replay, and who would replace him, has not been confirmed by the club, and no goalkeeper was named among Saturday’s unused substitutes.

The replay is at Sixways Stadium on Tuesday 20 October, kick-off 7.45pm BST. Tickets are £14 for adults, £9.50 for concessions, £5 for youths and £3 for under-12s, and the game is not segregated, Worcester City say. Worcester’s league game at Redditch has been postponed because of it.

The winners will be in the first round, which Chorley have not reached for six years, according to the club. The draw is on Monday 19 October, the night before the replay. Coverage starts at 6.30pm BST on TNT Sports 1, HBO Max and the TNT Sports YouTube channel, with the draw itself expected at about 6.35pm, and first-round ties will be played over the weekend of 6 to 9 November.

In the Enterprise National League North, Chorley are tenth. The table after Saturday’s games, which matches the BBC’s, shows them on 17 points from 11 games, with five wins, two draws and four defeats, and their 18 goals scored and conceded give them a goal difference of zero. They beat AFC Telford United 2–1 on 10 October.

After the replay, Buxton visit Victory Park on Saturday 24 October at 3pm BST. Chorley then travel to Radcliffe on Tuesday 27 October at 7.45pm and to Spennymoor Town on Saturday 31 October at 3pm, with both of those times in GMT after the clocks go back on Sunday 25 October. Their league trip to Bedford Town has been rearranged for Tuesday 17 November.

Elsewhere at the club, the youth team have been drawn at home to Hartlepool United in the FA Youth Cup.