Chester 0-0 Curzon Ashton

    Chester and Curzon Ashton played out a entertaining 0-0 draw at the Leap76 stadium, in which both sides were reduced to 10 men.

    Wyll Stanway, fresh after his England C call-up, earned his 20th clean sheet of the season in a hard fought battle in CH1.

    The start of the contest set the tone for the rest of the match, with both sides struggling to impose themselves.

    Chester grew into the game and were inches away from taking the lead just before the 20 minute mark. An inventive long throw from Kieran Coates found Tom Peers who flicked it into the path of Iwan Murray.

    He drove towards the by-line, and drilled the ball into George Glendon. He took a touch to set himself before looping a shot towards Josh Ollerenshaw’s net but the ball firmly hit the bar and bounced away.

    Curzon Ashton had barely ventured into Chester’s half for the first 30 mins of the game, but they almost took the lead following a swift break.

    Jamie Allen burst clear of the Chester defence, but with the angle tight Wyll Stanway managed to get a toe onto the shot to tip it onto the outside of the post. An instinctive save to preserve his clean sheet.

    George Glendon was a continuous attacking threat in the first half, but couldn’t find that incisive finish. The lively debutant Kieran Burton had an acrobatic effort saved by Curzon’s keeper Ollerenshaw.

    The Nash were well drilled by player/manager Craig Mahon and they consistently defended bravely against a flurry of set pieces from the Blues.

    Despite that, the best chance of the half came courtesy of a Chester set piece. Ben Tollitt’s whipped ball to the back post was dangerous and despite being impeded, Harrison Burke managed to head the ball back into the six yard box. Elliott Whitehouse was perfectly placed, but our No. 10  couldn’t get solid purchase on the header.

    The second half started at a lethargic pace with both teams struggling to sustain possession of the ball. As the half progressed, Chester saw more and more of the ball and momentum was building.

    The Seals were on top until a huge decision from referee Niall Smith. Debutant Kieran Burton threw the ball in frustration after the linesman had given a throw in to Curzon Ashton. The reaction seemed reasonable but the referee disagreed and gave Burton a second yellow card .

    The pattern of the game following that dismissal was hectic. The visitors could not make their man advantage pay, which they only had for a quarter of an hour. Their captain Jimmy Spencer was also given his marching orders for a second bookable offence after fouling Matty Williams. 10 vs 10 for final five minutes.

    Both teams were exchanging blows. Tom Peers near post strike was tipped around the post by Ollerenshaw and the visitors had a couple of promising set pieces which all amounted to nothing.

    11 unbeaten for Cal McIntyre’s men as we host Southport on Tuesday night.

    Match Report by Jude Deedigan.

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    Chester: Stanway, Burton, Williams, Burke, Coates, Whitehouse, Glendon, Murray (Weeks 56), Caton (Thomas 66), Tollitt (Woodthorpe 71), Peers

    Subs Not Used: Edwards, Norton

    Scorers:

    Attendance: 2172