In one of the most remarkable matches seen at Chester Moor, Chester-le-Street came form 3-0 down at the interval, to stage a great recovery to beat Horden CW 5-4. Chester had a great chance to take the lead after 4 minutes when an attempted clearance by keeper, James Winter, was blocked by Nathan Fisher, but he rushed his shot and the keeper recovered well to save. Horden took the lead after 13 minutes when a good move between Karl Richards and Mark Stephenson saw the ball crossed into the middle. None of the defence were able to clear and it left Stephen Thomas with an easy finish. After 23 minutes, Craig Price hit a free kick to the right for Chris Hunter to chest down but his shot went wide of the target. Horden nearly doubled their lead after 31 minutes when a snap shot from Stephen Thomas brought a good save from Josh Carmichael. Horden did increase their lead after 39 minutes when a long clearance down the middle saw Damian Maw fail with an attempted headed back-pass and it allowed Stuart Brightwell to run on and slip the ball into the net. After 44 minutes Chester had strong claims for a penalty turned down when a shot from Rob Draper appeared to be handled. Horden made a quick counter attack. Craig Hubbard played the ball inside to Karl Richards and he helped in on for Martin O'Riordan to apply the finishing touch. Chester started the fight-back after 52 minutes. Chris Hunter chased a ball down the right and his low cross was flicked on by Rob Draper for Nathan Fisher to score at the far post. Nathan Fisher nearly scored again after 64 minutes when he turned well on the edge of the area but his shot went just over the bar. Chester reduced the deficit after 72 minutes when Nathan Fisher fired in. Chester drew level after 80 minutes when some great play by Robbie Bird on the right saw him cut inside and cross to Rob Draper whose shot to a deflection on its way into the net. Chester looked to have won the match when Nathan Fisher latched onto a long clearance down the middle and ran on to fire in and complete his hat-trick. However, in the second minute of injury time, Stephen Thomas curled a free kick around the wall and into the corner of the net to restore parity. But Chester were not to be denied and straight from the kick-off, the ball was played forward to the edge of the area where Nathan Fisher showed some superb skill to control the ball, turn quickly and hit a dramatic winner into the corner of the net. A great turn-around which few people would have expected after the poor first half display.
Team: Josh Carmichael, Chris Hunter, Robert Palmer, Damian Maw (Robert Bird, 45 mins), Andy Armstrong, Ian Dixon, Luke Gilhespy, Craig Price, Nathan Fisher, Rob Draper, Ben Johnson. Subs Not Used : Colin Wake, Kyle Bird, Nicholas Kane, Ian Aitken.
Crowd: 51
Referee: Mr. I. Turner, Nunthorpe
Assistants: Mr. D,Chapman, Trimdon & Mr. I. Patton, Ingleby Barwick