Altrincham 3-2 Chester

    Chester tasted defeat for the first time this pre-season as Altrincham took advantage of a youthful second-half Chester side to earn a 3-2 victory.

    It was the hosts who looked the brighter in the opening exchanges. The first real chance of the game fell to ex-Chester man Tom Peers in the tenth minute. The striker did well to meet John Johnson’s cross, but was unfortunate to see his effort go just over the bar.

    However, it was the lively Tom Peers that did open the scoring in the 33rd minute after some neat play from the hosts. Winger Josh Hancock received the ball inside Chester’s penalty area, he cut inside onto his right foot and hit a low drive at goal, which Peers managed to poke past Alex Lynch for the game’s opener.

    The lead didn’t last long as Liam Davies claimed his second goal of this pre-season campaign. The ball fell to the winger after good pressing from the visitors, Paul Turnbull laid the ball of the Davies, who curled the ball home with the outside of his left foot from 20-yards. A superb effort to draw Chester level in the 38th minute.

    Jon McCarthy made eleven changes to the starting line-up for the second half, as we have seen in all of Chester’s pre-season games so far. Nyal Bell led the line for Chester, while midfielders Lucas Dawson, Wade Joyce and Jordan Chappell were the other senior players that entered the game in a second-half XI made up mostly of trialists and youth-team players.

    Chester made a good start to the second-period, with Bell unlucky not to give the visitors the lead in the 47th minute. Dawson did well to break from midfield before laying the ball of to Bell inside the area, the imposing striker was unlucky to see his shot go just wide of the Alty goal.

    It was the hosts that took the lead however with another ex-Chester man finding himself on the scoresheet in the 69th minute Jerome Wright. The winger had time to twist and turn inside the box, before sending the ball into the top left-corner of the Chester goal, well out of reach of the triallist goalkeeper.

    The visitors extended their lead in the 76th minute, substitute Amis the scorer for the visitors. Alty hit Chester on the counter-attack, with the impressive Johnson finding Amis wide in the penalty area. He hit a low shot at goal, which Chester’s trialist goalkeeper was only able to parry into the net.

    Lucas Dawson gave Chester a way back into the game as he converted a penalty in the 84th minute, after Bell was brought down by Altrincham’s James Jones, though the decision looked harsh.

    Chester rallied late on but it wasn’t enough as Altrincham claimed a narrow victory at the J. Davidson Stadium.