Blues Match Report: Spennymoor Town 4 - 1 Chester

Chester FC's FA Cup campaign came to an end with defeat on the road against Spennymoor Town this afternoon.

The opening stages of the contest were relatively even at The Brewery Field, with both sides trading chances.

Firstly, George Cantrill’s well-struck effort was comfortably gathered by Luke Hewitson, before Ruben Butt saw an effort from close-range blocked by Matt Urwin in the home goal.

Tom Peers also tested Urwin early on but saw his strike denied by a smart stop inside the home six-yard box, an opporutnity that was shortly followed by a goalmouth scramble in the Chester box with the ball eventually falling safely into the hands of Hewitson.

Danny Johnson opened the scoring for the Moors in the 25th minute when the experienced forward linked up with Glen Taylor before sliding a low effort past Hewitson into the bottom corner.

The lead was doubled just minutes later through Taylor, who slotted a composed finish into the bottom corner after a low cross from Jack Jenkins.

Peers went close to halving the deficit just after the half-hour mark with a low effort that was stopped by Urwin, before the hosts made it three in the 35th minute, once again through Johnson.

The forward tapped in from close-range on this occasion after Hewitson had managed to deny Taylor’s initial effort.

Butt went close to getting his name on the scoresheet before the break but saw his low, long-range strike pushed behind by Urwin.

The hosts made it four 11 minutes following the restart as Johnson bagged his hat-trick, this time finding the bottom corner with a clever finish after being played in by Jenkins.

Billy Waters pulled one back for Phil Parkinson’s side shortly after as he poked into the roof of the net from close-range, but despite a number of late efforts, the Blues couldn’t get back into the contest.

Waters almost doubled his tally mid-way through the second period as his effort bounced back to safety off the post, before the final chance of the game saw Taylor’s attempt deflect behind off an away defender.

The Blues are back in league action next Saturday at the Deva Community Stadium against Bedford Town.

Starting XI: Hewitson, Burroughs, Woodthorpe, Weeks, Griffin, Peers, Waters, Murphy, Abreu, Reed, Butt.

Substitutes: Mackin, McHale, Burgess, Foley, Boggan, Moore, Frimpong.

Scorers: Johnson 25′ 35′ 56′, Taylor 28′, Waters 58′.

You can listen to Shane talking to Blues Boss Phil Parkinson after the game here...