Chester Men 1 vs Durham Uni
Chester won 4-3
Chester Men 1 vs Durham Uni
Chester won 4-3
Chester hosted Durham University 2nd XI on an unseasonably warm November day. The two sides had experienced differing starts to the season - Durham winning 3 of their first 5 games and Chester still looking for their first victory of the campaign. The home side took an early lead when a scrappy penalty corner was converted by centre forward Andrew Murray. The energetic Durham side looked to respond immediately but were denied any real goalscoring chances by some resolute defending. The second half continued in a similar fashion, with summer signing Miles Margetson offering an excellent outlet for the home side. The game sprung to life with around 20 minutes remaining as Durham were controversially awarded a penalty corner which was dispatched to level the scores. Crowd favourite Adam Cliffe scored his first goal of the season after finishing neatly on the turn following a quick counter attack. Durham turned the game on its head with two quick goals leaving Chester staring down the barrel of another defeat. A well worked attack down the right hand side won Chester a short corner with around 5 minutes to go. Jim Challenor managed to level the scores at 3-3 after seeing his initial drag flick saved he was first to the ball to finish with a powerful reverse stick strike. It looked like the game was heading for a hard fought draw when Challenor produced a sensational 50 yard pass to find Murray at the back post who calmly deflected past the Durham goalkeeper to give the home side a valuable win.