The sun never came out on Chester Moor where the travelling Stan Army, who outnumbered the home support, were there for the Stan’s second FA Vase tie of the season. Unlike the weather, the match was far from a gloomy affair although the eventual underserved outcome was. There was one change from Wednesday with the return of Joe Wear.

The Stan started on the attack and in five minutes a Wear ball through to Wright saw him make a solo run on the left from near half way and he confidently shot past the keeper, with defenders on him, to make it 1-0. A Chester attack was dealt with in the 8th minute and Johnson cleared two minutes later followed by the home keeper catching a Stan effort. In 19 minutes, Hayton had a great shot from the left which was put just over off the bar by the keeper. The resulting corner saw the keeper make another save but Johnson scored with the rebound to make it 2-0.

On 22 minutes Chester had two attacks followed by a Watson free kick which went wide. There were further attacks at each end including the keeper catching a Johnson effort in 33 minutes. In 40 minutes, the ball from a Chester free kick was missed as it passed across the box except by the last Chester player who kicked it up into the net to make it 2-1. There were then attempts by Wright and Dodsworth followed by an overhead Chester kick that was caught by Martin. Looking back on the half, Ray’s marshalling of the defence was worthy of mention.

Chester had the advantage of shooting downhill in the second half although it was the Stan who nearly scored first when Hayton hit the post in 48 minutes. Chester then put pressure on the visitors and it paid off in 58 minutes when a speculative long shot on the right beat the Stan defence and keeper to make it 2-2. The Chester players were getting dirtier by the minute and I don’t mean muddy. The Stan though were soon back on the attack with a number of efforts and it was not until 77 minutes that the home side had a shot that went wide. Four minutes later and a Stan clearance from a Chester attack saw a counter attack by Dodsworth who raced up the right and passed to Watson on the left who passed to Wright in the box. Although under pressure, he calmly put the ball away to make it 3-2.

From just after the kick off though Chester’s Hislop attacked and his effort beat the Stan defence and keeper to make it 3-3. In celebrating though he made a rude gesture to the Stan fans behind the goal, which included some elderly men, and was shown a red card for his stupidity. After the restart there was a great move by Hayton which saw the home keeper run out and block Telford. The counter attack was halted when Dodsworth slid in and won the ball. Unexpectedly, but to even things up and with the linesman keeping his head down, the referee disgracefully showed an undeserved straight red card. From the free kick, Martin saved on the line and then made a great save from the resulting corner.

The draw meant 30 minutes of extra time with a replay if it was still a stalemate at the end of it. In the 95th minute, a Chester corner saw the ball headed off the bar. Chester were now putting the pressure on and the ball was mainly remaining in the Stan half with both Stoddart and Johnson having to clear. The Stan did end the half though with three attacks. The start of the second half of extra time saw attacks at either end but the Stan should have taken the lead in 112 minutes when a Rowntree ball to Wright saw him beat a defender and chip the keeper only to see his effort hit the bar.

A minute later and Scott brought down a home player who was free on the left. As he had already been booked, the yellow card saw him sent off. The resulting free kick went to the right of the loose wall and was headed in to make it 3-4. There was one more effort, when for the Stan’sTelford shot just wide, but the match ended with a win for Chester.

The journey to Wembley is now over until next season although cup action continues again in the Northumberland Senior Cup on Wednesday.

Stan Team: Martin; Scott; Stoddart; Ray; Wear;Dodsworth; Burns (Telford); Johnson, L; Wright; Hayton (Rowntree); Watson (Imray).

Unused Subs: Axon, Waters.

Goals: Wright 5, 81, Johnson 20

Yellow Cards: Wright.

Red Cards: Dodsworth, Scott.

Attendance:

Kevin Mochrie