CHORLEY chairman Jack Kirkland revealed a promise that striker Andy Mason had made when he joined the Magpies at the start of the season - that he would score 20 goals by Christmas.

Naturally, it was the sort of forecast that was best kept under wraps in the event of anything going wrong and football is a funny old game, after all.

The facts are there - Mason followed up his two goals in a four-match loan spell last season while he was a Leigh RMI player by cracking in 20 goals by the second week in December.

Andy's scoring effort against Ossett Albion at Victory Park on Saturday certainly gave the Magpies an early Christmas present!

It was a little ironic that his goal came seconds after he had missed a penalty for the second time in four days.

This time Andy's spot kick hit the crossbar and after Ian Barker had headed the rebound back the Magpie goal ace forced the ball home.

The Mason-Barker combination had struck in the first half when Barker again celebrated his return to Chorley with a timely headed opener. Barker made sure he had a hand in all three goals when he laid the ball off for substitute David Eatock to score with literally the last kick of the match.

Magpie fans are hoping to see another good home win when Matlock Town are the visitors to Victory Park on Saturday for what is in effect a six-pointer as the Derbyshire side are only five places above Ken Wright's boys in the UniBond First Division table.

With three victories from their last four league matches the Magpies are at last making progress towards a healthy position in the table. There are still precious few points among the promotion-chasing pack, so there is still a lot to play for. Matlock are unbeaten in their last four league games and have won five of their 10 away matches, including at Ashton and Rossendale.