Chester le Street Town travelled to meet promotion chasing Redcar Athletic on Saturday and produced a sound display despite going down 3-0. They were without the injured Harrison Scott , Jak Mitchell, David Surrey whoe were unavailable and Nathan Wade who has signed a contract with Chievo Verona in Italy.
Redcar started brightly and came close after 12 minutes when the ball was crossed into the middle and was missed by the Cestrian defence, but Redcar new signing striker Adam Preston glanced his header just wide of the post. Chester le Street responded and Luke Collins broke on the left only to see his shot go into the side netting .
On 32 minutes Chester le Street made their first substitution with James Connor leaving the field with a knee injury to be replaced by Andrew Clarkson . After 35 minutes, a ball down the Chester le Street left set Redcars Joseph Taylor free and he cut into the area to drive the ball towards the goal where Chester Keeper Regan Ward made a good block and Danny Hepplewhite completed the clearance. Play was even for the rest of the half and the teams went in at the interval 0 -0
Playing with a strong wind at their backs Redcar pressed forward and eventually broke the deadlock after 62 minutes when the Chester defence failed to deal with a corner and Preston fired in. Redcar doubled their lead after 8 minutes later when a corner from the left led to a scramble in the area and Kallum Hannah back-heeled the ball into the net. After 86 minutes a ball into the area found Preston but his good header brought a great save from Ward.
Redcar completed their victory in the 94th minute when Connor Smith found some space to drill the ball low into the corner of the net.
Team: Regan Ward, Joseph Blackbourne, Adam Thirlaway, Christopher Stephenson, Alexander Walker, Daniel Hepplewhite, Owen Henderson (Craig Marron, 83 mins), Kier MacDougall, James Connor (Andrew Clarkson (36 mins), Michael Hepplewhite, Luke Collins. Subs Not Used : Lee Turner, Maximiliano Coombes.
On Saturday 1 February Chester le Street Town entertain Durham City at Moor Park DH2 3RW with a 3.00 ko and they are expected to include at least one new signing in their squad
