Chester Crash 1 - 2 Against Detemined FGR
By Simon Dutton January 20 2004
Slack defending by Chester cost them 3 points as plucky Forest Green fought back to condemn the Blues to a 1-2 defeat at The Lawn despite Daryl Clare giving City the lead.
By Simon Dutton January 20 2004
Slack defending by Chester cost them 3 points as plucky Forest Green fought back to condemn the Blues to a 1-2 defeat at The Lawn despite Daryl Clare giving City the lead.
Changes were made from the team which lost against Halifax in the Trophy. Guyett continued to sit out due to a problem with his wisdom tooth so Phil Bolland stepped into his shoes again. Regan was dropped in favour of young Jamie Heard and surprisingly Andy Harris found himself in the starting 11 as Sean Carey was suspended. McIntyre also returned after serving a two match suspension at the expense of Michael Twiss.
The opening exchanges were dull and scrappy with neither team creating many chances. The conditions of the pitch didn’t make for great footballing conditions either, so it was predictable that the ball spent a lot of time in the air!
Alex Meecham, back at Rovers on a loan spell from Dagenham, found some space down the right hand flank but his shot was easily dealt with by McCaldon. Chester’s first opportunity fell to the normally prolific Daryl Clare as he burst into the area but his attemped lob was poor and went wide of the goal.
The first half was rapidly turning into a stalemate and both sides looked short of inspiration. But perhaps against the run of play, Mark Wright’s men took the lead seconds before half time. It was the deadly combination of Stamp and Clare who created the breakthrough, Stamp picked out Clare with an excellent ball from the right and City’s top marksmen made no mistake in coolly slotting the ball home from close range. Forest Green will have been disappointed as they had succeeded in keeping Clare and Stamp quiet but a lapse of concentration in the back line cost them.
The 1-0 score line probably flattered Chester as they went in at half time but Forest Green were not dead and buried and a Tommy Harris team talk inspired a more determined second half display from his team.
Stamp had a shot in the 47th minute, which was parried by Perrin, Clare followed up but his effort was again saved by Perrin, perhaps if Clare had scored then the outcome of this match could have been much different.
But Rovers began to play some neat football and looked determined to get themselves back into game. A ball was swung high into the Chester and Scott Rodgers found himself unmarked but his header sailed over the bar to the relief of the sleepy Chester rearguard. Meecham then pounced on a Ruffer mistake but his powerful shot flew over the crossbar. Rovers were throwing everything but the kitchen sink at City at this stage and came close to scoring only for an excellent goal line clearance from Danny Collins.
Alex Smith had a golden opportunity to extend Chester’s lead on 65 minutes, he found himself one-on-one with Perrin but the heavyweight goalkeeper did well to deflect the shot for a corner. Had this chance been converted then the tie probably would have been wrapped up but the plucky home side got an equaliser that they thoroughly deserved on 70 minutes. A slick attacking move involving three Rovers players resulted in a dangerous cross which found Steve Cowe unmarked and had the easy task of slotting the ball in the back on the net.
Mark Wright made two substitutions in an attempt to give his team more attacking options, Rapley came on for Stamp and Smith made way for Twiss.
But Forest Green continued to surge forward and it came as no surprise to see them take the lead. Meecham was again the catalyst, his penetrative run resulted in his shot being parried by McCaldon only for the ball to fall to Scott Rodgers in acres of space and he had the easy task of putting the ball in the empty net from six yards whilst the City defence were in no mans land.
The Blues did try to salvage something from the came, Clare should have done better with a close range effort and a couple of dangerous corners from McIntyre were cleared away. But the referee blew the whistle to signal full time which condemned City to their second successive defeat amidst scenes of celebration from Rovers fans and players. This result could be vital in Forest Green’s quest to evade relegation but could be a chink in the armour for Chester who are only three points clear at the top as Hereford earned a point at Morecambe.
Mark Wright will be hoping his side can bounce back on Saturday when they travel to bottom of the league Northwich in what is a must win fixture for Chester.
The opening exchanges were dull and scrappy with neither team creating many chances. The conditions of the pitch didn’t make for great footballing conditions either, so it was predictable that the ball spent a lot of time in the air!
Alex Meecham, back at Rovers on a loan spell from Dagenham, found some space down the right hand flank but his shot was easily dealt with by McCaldon. Chester’s first opportunity fell to the normally prolific Daryl Clare as he burst into the area but his attemped lob was poor and went wide of the goal.
The first half was rapidly turning into a stalemate and both sides looked short of inspiration. But perhaps against the run of play, Mark Wright’s men took the lead seconds before half time. It was the deadly combination of Stamp and Clare who created the breakthrough, Stamp picked out Clare with an excellent ball from the right and City’s top marksmen made no mistake in coolly slotting the ball home from close range. Forest Green will have been disappointed as they had succeeded in keeping Clare and Stamp quiet but a lapse of concentration in the back line cost them.
The 1-0 score line probably flattered Chester as they went in at half time but Forest Green were not dead and buried and a Tommy Harris team talk inspired a more determined second half display from his team.
Stamp had a shot in the 47th minute, which was parried by Perrin, Clare followed up but his effort was again saved by Perrin, perhaps if Clare had scored then the outcome of this match could have been much different.
But Rovers began to play some neat football and looked determined to get themselves back into game. A ball was swung high into the Chester and Scott Rodgers found himself unmarked but his header sailed over the bar to the relief of the sleepy Chester rearguard. Meecham then pounced on a Ruffer mistake but his powerful shot flew over the crossbar. Rovers were throwing everything but the kitchen sink at City at this stage and came close to scoring only for an excellent goal line clearance from Danny Collins.
Alex Smith had a golden opportunity to extend Chester’s lead on 65 minutes, he found himself one-on-one with Perrin but the heavyweight goalkeeper did well to deflect the shot for a corner. Had this chance been converted then the tie probably would have been wrapped up but the plucky home side got an equaliser that they thoroughly deserved on 70 minutes. A slick attacking move involving three Rovers players resulted in a dangerous cross which found Steve Cowe unmarked and had the easy task of slotting the ball in the back on the net.
Mark Wright made two substitutions in an attempt to give his team more attacking options, Rapley came on for Stamp and Smith made way for Twiss.
But Forest Green continued to surge forward and it came as no surprise to see them take the lead. Meecham was again the catalyst, his penetrative run resulted in his shot being parried by McCaldon only for the ball to fall to Scott Rodgers in acres of space and he had the easy task of putting the ball in the empty net from six yards whilst the City defence were in no mans land.
The Blues did try to salvage something from the came, Clare should have done better with a close range effort and a couple of dangerous corners from McIntyre were cleared away. But the referee blew the whistle to signal full time which condemned City to their second successive defeat amidst scenes of celebration from Rovers fans and players. This result could be vital in Forest Green’s quest to evade relegation but could be a chink in the armour for Chester who are only three points clear at the top as Hereford earned a point at Morecambe.
Mark Wright will be hoping his side can bounce back on Saturday when they travel to bottom of the league Northwich in what is a must win fixture for Chester.
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