Chester lost a hard-fought battle with league leaders Spennymoor Town 1-0. The sides were evenly matched in the opening stages with Spennymoor failing to make much of an impression. Chester created the first opening after 18 minutes when a defensive mistake saw the ball fall to Nathan Fisher but his shot was well held by keeper Craig Turns. After 24 minutes, Robbie Bird won possession and played the ball through to Nathan Fisher on the right. He got to the by-line and squared the ball across the face of the goal but no-one was on had to make contact. Spennymoor made an immediate reply with the ball moving down the left. It was played inside to Craig Hubbard and he turned well to fire in. Chester continued to take the game to Spennymoor and had another good chance after 35 minutes. A quick throw-in on the left saw Nathan Fisher cut inside to fire in a shot which brought another good save from Craig Turns. After 39 minutes a defensive slip let Mark Sheeran through but his shot was well saved by Ian Aitken, low down to his right. The second half continued in much the same vein as the first with Chester pressing hard for the equaliser but failing to find a way through the Spennymoor defence. Spennymoor defender Ian Dixon was lucky not to be sent off after 85 minutes following a two-footed challenge and only received a yellow card. However, a couple of minutes later, he received his second yellow card for another rash challenge and was dismissed. Although Chester put them under a lot of pressure, Spennymoor managed to hang on for victory. Although disappointing not to have taken something fro the game, it was another excellent performance.
Team: Ian Aitken, Luke Gilhespy, Robert Palmer, Kyle Bird, Andy Armstrong, Damian Maw (Michael Allan, 81 mins), Nicholas Kane, Robbie Bird, Nathan Fisher, Rob Draper, Gavin Hoggarth (Colin Wake, 58 mins). Subs Not Used : Alexander McKenzie, John Murray.
Crowd: 145
Referee: Mr. P. Stalker, Middlesbrough
Assistants: Mr. A. March, Middlesbrough & Mr. I. Patton, Ingleby Barwick