Ben Rhydding Men 1 vs Chester Men 1

Ben Rhydding Men 1 vs Chester Men 1
Chester 3 - Ben Rhydding 2

Chester travelled to the Yorkshire dales to face Ben Rhydding in a game featuring both teams who were promoted from North Division 1 last season. There were some notable absentees from the Chester line up making the game more challenging. The home team took an early lead when a scrappy penalty corner was turned in from close range. Chester began to assert themselves on the game, dominating possession for long periods. Ben Rhydding looked to utilise the aerial on the counter attack, with returning captain Neil Macleod dealing well with several high balls. Chester couldn't turn possession in to goals in the first half and went in to the break a goal behind. Shortly after half time, Ben Rhydding doubled their lead with a long ball in to the dee adjudged to have taken the faintest of touches from an attacking stick. Chester rallied well and looked threating, with several promising attacks down the right hand side of the pitch. The pressure told when James Nairn finished calmly from a ball across the dee. The equaliser came soon after when a John Roper drag flick wasn't cleared and Chris Myles followed in well following his earlier injection to bring Chester level. With less than ten minutes to go, another successful Chester foray down the right led to Max Jones collecting the ball on the baseline. The young defender commited the goalkeeper and slotted the ball in at the near post. It was a tense end to the game, with Ben Rhydding changing to a kicking back and pushing players high up the pitch. A well struck reverse stick strike from the Yorkshire team looked destined for the top corner, but was touched around the post by goalkeeper Matt Francis. Man of the match Duncan Langston helped alleviate pressure in the closing moments, with Chester seeing out the game to take a vital 3 points