Match Report - Trafford 4-3 Chester FC

The Blues lost an entertaining pre-season game at Trafford at the end of a busy seven days on the road.

Jamie Morgan and George Waring (2) were on the scoresheet for Chester, but the hosts were victorious at Shawe View Stadium.

In treacherous conditions in Manchester, the game got off to a slow start with both sides getting to grips with a wet surface. Trafford took the lead on nine minutes when a long ball over the top caused a mix up at the back, allowing Max Hazeldine to nick the ball away from Louis Gray and Dan Cowan before tapping into an empty net.

But Chester had turned it around in eight quickfire first half minutes. Morgan scored his first goal of pre-season when he slid in to turn home George Glendon’s cross – before Declan Weeks clipped in the assist for Waring to nod into the bottom corner on 25 minutes.

However the hosts were level before the half hour mark as Hazeldine scored his second of the night, curling a low free kick around the Blues wall and into the goal.

Inbetween the interval, two separate chances saw Anthony Dudley chip on to the roof of the net after a neat one-two with Waring – before James Hardy was brilliantly denied by Matt Cooper at the end of a counter attack.

It was 3-2 though on 54 minutes as Waring once again got his head to the ball and found the back of the net courtesy of another pre-season assist for Hardy.

But the team two divisions below the Blues wouldn’t lie down and were level once more on 69 minutes. A delightful move ended with subs combining, as Harry Sheridan’s low cross into the box from the right was slammed home by Matty Barlow.

Trafford finished the game strongly, and Chester had a let off when Matty Morgan’s shot from the edge of the box hit the foot of the post. But Morgan made no mistake with just two minutes to go, curling into the bottom corner after snatching a loose ball 25 yards from goal.

Next up for the Blues is a Deva clash with EFL side Fleetwood Town.

CHESTER: Gray (Worsnop 46), Morgan, Livesey (Williams 65), Cowan (Burke 77), Roberts, Glendon (Lowe 77), Weeks, Oyibo (Clark 33), Hardy (Clarke 77), Dudley (Marsh-Hughes 77), Waring (Stephenson 65).

SCORERS: Hazeldine 9 & 29, Barlow 69, M Morgan 88; J Morgan 17, Waring 25 & 54.