BLUES MATCH REPORT: CHESTER FC 0 - 1 SOUTH SHIELDS

Calum McIntyre’s men slipped to a narrow defeat to play-off rivals South Shields, after a late finish by Paul Blackett at the Leap76 Stadium.

The first chance of note came in the 13th minute as Harrison Burke went on a marauding run up the right hand side before unleashing a powerful strike that flew just over the bar.

Moments later the Blues continued to put the visitors under pressure, when Tom Peers found Elliott Whitehouse in the area but his curling effort was pushed away by Myles Boney.

The Seals continued to dominate the opening period of the game, with South Shields limited to very few opportunities.

As the end of the half drew closer, Charlie Caton had a penalty shout waved away after he latched on to a long ball, beating Boney to the ball before colliding with the keeper.

Burke then connected well with a header from a Iwan Murray corner, but his effort bounced back off the post, before Whitehouse failed to connect with the ball inside the six-yard box.

Chester went in at the break frustrated to be level after a positive first half performance.

The Mariners came out well after the interval, with the league’s top scorer, Paul Blackett, having his first chance of the game but Stanway got down well and put it behind for a corner.

Nathan Woodthorpe was full of energy down the left and whipped a delightful, curling cross in that Peers couldn’t quite connect with.

With less than five minutes left it was heartbreak for Chester, as Blackett picked up the ball and finished brilliantly past Stanway into the far corner.

The away side have moved level on points with the Seals, with just five league games remaining.

Match Report by Tom Bird.

Chester: Stanway, Burke (Norton 90+2′), Williams, Roberts, Woodthorpe, Whitehouse, Murray, Glendon (Thomas 82′), Weeks, Peers, Caton (Tollitt 42′).

Subs Not Used: Burton, Edwards.

Scorers: None

Attendance: 2,539

You can listen to the post-match interview with Blues Boss Calum McIntyre here...