Chester le Street Town travelled for a local derby to Birtley on Friday night securing a 2-1 win to put them back at the top of Division 2. They made several changes to the starting eleven that lost to Ryton on the Tuesday and started the game playing against the wind and driving rain in the first half. Birtley came out of the blocks but they fell behind on 11 mins when Chester le Street’s  Chris Stephenson sent in a cross to Kieran Megran who managed to stoop and back head the ball over the keeper for the first goal.

Scott Robson increased the Cestrians lead on 39 mins when he beat the Birtley keeper Jordan Bolton to a through ball lofting it over his head. Chester le Street then had 3 good chances before half time to increase their lead with Bolton in the Birtley goal saving efforts from Robson and Megran

Birtley started the second half pressing straight at the Chester le Street defence leading to a corner on 48 mins and Matty Soulsby out jumped the Cestrian defenders to pull a goal back for Birtley. This is how the score remained till the final whistle with Chester le Street gaining a valuable 3 points

Match Officials : Paul Cooper, Adam Trenholme, Peter Yuill

Next game for Chester le Street Town is on Saturday 20 October with another away game this time at Easington Colliery SR8 3PL