Nantwich Town 4
Chester FC 1
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Monday
29 August
>Nantwich Town 4 Chester 1
Evo-Stik Northern Premier League

Attendance: 1,561 Half Time 1-0

Booked: Horan, Powell. Sent-Off:
Horan.
>Nantwich Town:
Brain, Moss, Bailey, Flynn, Lowe, Worrall, Kelly (Prince
74), Cooke, Carter, Mills (Adaggio 90), Lennon (Campbell
90). Subs not used: Hendricks-Hamilton, Jack.

Chester: Danby, Brownhill (Booth 70),
Horan, Smith, McGinn, Baynes, Stones (Howard 57), Powell,
Wright, Rainford, McNeil (Simm 59). Subs not used: Taylor,
Reed.

Referee: Richard Bartlett (Cheshire).
This
was certainly not the result anyone predicted –
how could two rip-roaring performances against FCUM and
Stocksbridge be turned into a dismal display at Nantwich?

It was certainly not through lack of support – as
more than 1,000 Chester fans turned up in their droves
to witness this all-Cheshire bank holiday derby.



From the outset, no neutral would have predicted that
the match would result in a 4-1 home victory. For the
first 20 minutes, Chester piled on the pressure as they
attacked towards their fans.



Nantwich’s goalkeeper Johnny Brain, veteran of 200
Football League appearances with Port Vale, Macclesfield
and Walsall, had to do so much shouting that his voice
soon became hoarse.



But Chester, who had Chris Simm and Iain Howard on the
bench after they failed to arrive in time for the team-sheet
being handed in, failed to come close before the action
switched to the other end.



Michael Powell dwelled on the ball in midfield on the
29th minute before it was snatched back by Nantwich. A
neat pass to striker Ben Mills saw him complete the move
with a good strike past John Danby.



But the travelling fans didn’t seem rattled by the
home lead and Jamie Rainford had his best chance of the
day soon after. He had a great shot which was spectacularly
tipped over the bar by Brain.



Neil Young made no changes at half-time, and the match
started swinging in the direction of the hosts when George
Horan pulled the shirt of Dabbers’ Sean Cooke as
he ran towards the box. The foul looked to have taken
place outside the area, but referee Richard Bartlett blew
for a penalty.



To make matters worse, ex-Chester City player Darren Moss
argued that Horan was the last defender. Referee Bartlett
then issued a second yellow card to Horan, so he was sent
off with just ten minutes of the second half gone. Mills
struck a good penalty to make it 2-0 to Nantwich.



Howard then came on to replace Greg Stones, who'd looked
out-of-position all match in midfield. Soon after, Simm
replaced Matt McNeil, who’d had a lacklusture game.



But the changes made no real difference to the team’s
performance and Nantwich made it 3-0 when Michael Lennon
ran through to score. A Christian Smith consolation goal
a minute later was barely noticed, or supported, by the
disconsulate travelling fans.



Some of the Chester supporters now started making their
excuses and those who did leave early didn’t miss
much. Nantwich’s Liam Prince scored their fourth
on the 85th minute when Chester had given up any hope
of sneaking an unlikely point.



Nantwich, who featured another ex-Chester player, Jimmy
Kelly, had ran the show for at least an hour of the match
– with Kelly one of their star performers. The Chester
team must have wished they could have left early as well
as some of their fans.

Match report written by Chester FC website