BLUES MATCH REPORT: HEREFORD 1 - 1 CHESTER FC

Chester FC had to settle for a point away at Hereford, as they played out a 1 - 1 stalemate at Edgar Street.

The game was embroiled in controversy, but a draw ended up being a fair result in Herefordshire.

Calum McIntrye’s men started the game the better of the two sides and they almost scored inside five minutes but neither George Glendon nor Tom Peers could connect to Harrison Burke’s drilled cross.

Chester did open the scoring ten minutes later in bizarre fashion. Ben Tollitt lofted a corner to the back post which was met by Burke, Hereford’s keeper Curtis Pond looked to be able to comfortably collect the ball but was fairly challenged by Elliott Whitehouse, who headed the ball in and referee Jonathan Maskrey deemed that midfielder had not committed a foul.

That goal meant Chester’s No. 10 has now scored in four consecutive games, and has ten for the season.

Shortly after the Chester’s goal, Tollitt had a chance to double the lead following a brisk counterattack.

Iwan Murray carried the ball into Hereford’s half before playing in Tollitt who had  Weeks bursting on his right-hand side. He opted against playing in Weeks much to the midfielder’s dismay and his effort was blocked.

Chances were few and far between in the first period but Hereford did have a half chance just after the half hour mark. Aurio Teixeira lifted an inventive ball through to Andy Williams but he could only send his strike go straight into the gloves of Wyll Stanway.

Chester managed the remainder of the first half with poise and composure, with the Seals controlling possession.

However, the Bulls thought they had equalised on the stroke of half time after Jason Cowley had volleyed the ball high into Stanway’s net following a set piece, but the linesman raised his flag for offside.

The hosts came out with renewed energy for the second half in search of restoring parity.

Stanway had to produce some heroics early in the second half to preserve a potential 20^th clean sheet of the season.  It was full back to full back, as Aaron Skinner evaded numerous yellow bodies before digging out a lofted cross to left back Lewis Hudson. His header was powerful but was met by Stanway’s glove as he prevented what looked to be a certain goal.

Stanway was the hero yet again for Chester as he palmed away another strong header, but from the resulting corner Hereford were awarded a penalty after a tussle in the box between multiple players. Andy Williams stepped up to take the spot kick and Stanway nearly produced heroics again, but the penalty proved too powerful.

The last 15 mins of the game was ended to end with both teams searching for a winning goal. Both teams failed to make late chances count and the spoils were shared under the lights.

After the final whistle Weeks was sent off for a second bookable offence after protesting to the referee.

The Seals extended their unbeaten run to eight games and return to the Leap76 stadium this weekend as they host Spennymoor Town on Saturday.

Match Report by Jude Deedigan.

Chester: Stanway, Burke, Williams, Roberts, Woodthorpe, Whitehouse, Glendon, Weeks, Murray (Heywood 61), Tollitt, Peers.

Subs Not Used: Norton, Hall, Okeke, Edwards.

Scorers: Williams (pen) 75; Whitehouse 14.

Attendance: 2,270