On a miserable night of torrential rain and with it being the 1st home match where fans had to wear masks, the Stan performance was better than the 0-0 score suggested and they should have just edged a win given that they had more chances. There were 2 changes from Saturday’s comeback win with both subs from the Esh game, Wilson and Hoggins, earning a start in place of Imray and Wright.

The match was slow to get going and the 1st proper attacks for each team, were not until the 9th minute. In 13 minutes, Chester had a corner cleared. A Stan attack then saw Miller try a long shot which Coombes, the Chester keeper, caught. The play was now mainly in the middle of the park although Chester had 2 attacks cleared after 20 minutes followed by Campbell counter attacking and his long shot was deflected just wide for a corner. This was the only clear chance so far at either end. Burns' resulting corner and his follow up shot were both cleared.

In 25 minutes, a great run by Carr down the right saw him to cross to Campbell who passed to Burns but his shot was blocked. Soon after, Coombes had to run out to block the advancing Campbell. Hoggins then broke through but he was blocked. Burns then supplied Hoggins whose shot was put out by Coombes for a corner. In 30 minutes, Chester had a rare attack but the ball was blasted straight at Regan. They then had an effort through a header cleared and the follow up shot went well wide of the Stan goal.

The last 10 minutes of the 1st half mainly involved Stan attacks apart from 2 Chester attacks which were dealt with well by the Stan defence. A header by Campbell was saved followed by Waters heading just wide and a Burns effort was blocked. In the 39th minute a long ball from Regan led to a mix up between Coombes and a defender but the former got to the ball just before Hoggins and Campbell. The Stan kept the pressure on until half time but with no end result. Although the have was relatively quiet overall, the Stan had more of the ball and if either team was going to take the lead it would have been the Stan.

With the rain now even more heavier, the Stan started the 2nd half as they ended the 1st with pressure on the visiting defence. Campbell had 2 early efforts blocked with the 2nd leading to a corner which saw the resulting Stan effort in the crowded 6-yard box go wide.

In 50 minutes, Chester’s 1st effort of the half was blocked by Regan and the ball from the resulting corner was headed over. It was then back to consistent Stan pressure for the next 10 minutes although they could not breach the visiting defence. Chester finally had an effort after 65 minutes although it went wide and then had another attack cleared.

In 68 minutes, a long ball from Hall to Campbell saw him brought down but nothing was given. The Stan advanced again through Hoggins who glided through the Chester defence but somehow his shot was cleared. The appearance of the lively Paterson after 68 minutes definitely made the Stan look more likely to score and he kept the pressure on the visitors until the final whistle. His 1st clear effort after 72 minutes saw his header blocked although the ball went out to Leech who blasted it just over.

Against the run of play, Chester did have the ball in the Stan net after 78 minutes but luckily it was offside. Regan then had to block 2 minutes later but the Stan countered and Paterson was brought down in the Chester box as he advanced on Coombes but nothing was given. Burns then attacked and although Coombes cleared Burns nearly got hold of the ball again but it rebounded out of play.

In 82 minutes, Burns advanced into the box, was tripped but kept the ball, went past a defender and blasted the ball but Coombes put it out for a corner. From it, the ball was cleared on the goal line for another Stan corner. The Stan continued to attack and in 85 minutes Coombe had to get down to stop a Burns long range effort. Chester then had another rare attack but their resulting shot went wide. It was then back to the Stan and Burns supplied Campbell who was again tripped in the box and again nothing was given.

The Stan were still searching for the winner and Burns had 2 efforts blocked. In 93 minutes, the rain finally went off followed by both Paterson and Campbell being blocked in the box although the ball went back to Paterson and his resulting effort went just wide. Despite continued attempts, the Stan could not get the elusive goal which would have been enough to win the match and the 3-game winning run came to an end although the unbeaten run now stretches to 4 games.

Team: Regan; Stooddart, Miller (C) (Blackbourne), Hall, Leech; Wilson, Carr, Waters (Imray), Burns; Hoggins (Paterson), Campbell.

Subs (Not Used): Simpson, Deagle.

Att: 94.

Referee: G. Hargrave.

Kevin Mochrie

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