Chester suffered another heavy defeat, going down 4-1 at home to fellow-strugglers Bishop Auckland 4-1. For the second home game in succession, Chester faced the handicap of playing with ten men after Luke Gilhespy was red-carded for a foul after 6 minutes, with Stephen Salvin giving Bishop Auckland the lead from the penalty spot. After 10 minutes, Nathan Fisher chased down a long ball. The Bishops keeper, Peter Jeffries rushed out and although he sliced his attempted clearance, he recovers quickly to block the ball for a corner. From the corner, the ball was only cleared to the edge of the area but Nathan Fisher sent his shot over the bar. After 33 minutes, Nathan Fisher received the ball on the edge of the area and turned to fire in a low shot which the keeper did well to turn for a corner at full stretch. Bishops doubled their lead after 37 minutes when Simon Ord cut in from the right to fire in a shot which keeper Ian Aitken could only parry into the path of Tyson Master and he was left with a simple tap in. Bishops were in dominance in the early stages of the second half. After 52 minutes, Wayne Gredziak turned well on the edge of the area to fire in a shot which Ian Aitken tipped over the bar. After 59 minutes, a long clearance from Jeffries found Gredziak but his shot across goal went just wide of the far post. Chester started to play better as they looked to get back into the game. After 61 minutes, Nathan Fisher saw a shot deflected off a defender for a corner. Chester pulled a goal back after 71 minutes when Nathan Fisher played the ball right to Josh Home-Jackson and he cut in to fire into the top corner off the bar. However, Bishops broke straight from restart and Masters restored the two goal margin. Chester rarely threatened in the remaining twenty minutes and it was Bishops who scored again when Simon Ord netted after 83 minutes. A very disappointing result against a rather poor side. But they were a lot better than us on the night, especially when we were left to battle with ten men.
Team: Ian Aitken, Luke Gilhespy, Ian Davison, Robert Palmer (Nicholas Kane, 70 mins), Andy Armstrong, Ian Dixon, Josh Home-Jackson, Craig Price (Danny Petts, 70 mins), Nathan Fisher, Rob Draper, James Farrell (John Murray, 78 mins). Subs Not Used : Colin Wake, Josh Carmichael.
Crowd: 89
Referee: Mr. P. Stalker, Middlesbrough
Assistants: Mr. M. Green, Newcastle & Mr. P. Osgood, Newcastle