Chester went down 4-3 at home to Sunderland West End. Chester came close to opening the scoring after 10 minutes when Owen Henderson crossed the ball in from the right and it was brought under control by Michael Hepplewhite but his shot went straight to keeper Neal Bussey. Chester took the lead two minutes later when another cross from Henderson was missed by Jak Mitchell but Jack Brown pounced and fired in. After 21 minutes a slip by Alexander Walker let in Jake Fenton but Kevin Dixon made a great tackle to clear the danger. Two minutes later, Mitchell played a good ball through to Lee Blades but his shot brought a good save from Bussey. Sunderland drew level after 28 minutes when another mistake by Walker let in Cameron Old and he raced on to fire in. Sunderland took the lead after 36 minutes. Robert Hall played a free kick into the area but Dixon managed to get in front of Adam Drysdale and turn the ball for a corner. From this corner Luke Richardson ran in to
head in. Chester restored parity after 40 minutes. Mitchell crossed the ball into the middle and when Blades header came back off the post Hepplewhite fired in the rebound. Sunderland went back in front after 50 minutes when a through ball was left by Ricky Fenwick and Nathan Armin and Old nipped in to score. Chester came close to an equaliser after 60 minutes when a cross into the middle was head back by Blades to Craig Marron but his shot to the top corner was tipped over the bar by
Bussey. Sunderland extended their lead after 64 minutes when Daniel Martin head in at the back post from a corner. After 83 minutes, Mark Robinson hit a great low cross into the middle to the unmarked Drysdale but he failed to make any contact with the ball. Chester pulled a goal back after 88 minutes when a through ball caught out the Sunderland defence and Hepplewhite rifled the ball into the net.
A disappointing second half performance and once again the team was left to rue the individual errors.
Team: Nathan Armin, Christopher Stephenson, Ricky Renwick (Andrew Clarkson 70 mins), Craig Marron (Niall Fingleton 75 mins), Alexander Walker, Kevin Dixon, Owen Henderson, Jak Mitchell, Jack Brown David Surrey 47 mins), Lee Blades, Michael Hepplewhite. Subs Not Used : Anthony Lee, Callum Greaves
