Chester City 3, St Albans City 2

Feb 5 2001 Chester Chronicle Series

CHESTER were relieved St Albans' second goal came as late as injury time as they scrambled into the fifth round of the FA Umbro Trophy.

They looked to have the tie all wrapped up when Chris Blackburn converted a pass from the lively Jimmy Haarhoff to make it 3-1, but Deva hearts fluttered when old campaigner Amara Simba pegged one back in the dying moments.

It was too little, too late for the Ryman League outfit who blotted their copybook when Ryan Moran was sent off in the 84th minute for a dangerous tackle on Matt Doughty.

It wasn't a vintage performance by Chester, but they nearly always had the edge once Carl Ruffer slid home a Neil Fisher cross in the 12th minute.

Although Simba headed the Saints back into it after 25 minutes Chester took just 10 minutes of the second half to regain the lead with Scott Ruscoe's diving header from a Doughty cross and were cruising after the Blackburn strike until that late revival by the visitors.

"It was a tough battle, but there were a lot of plusses with our attacking play," said City boss Graham Barrow.

Chester: Brown, Fisher, Doughty (Woodyatt 84), Lancaster, Ruffer (Woods 79), P Beesley, Carden, Blackburn, Haarhoff, M Beesley, Ruscoe (Moss 83).

Booked: Doughty, M Beesley, Ruscoe.

St Albans: Hurst, Rooney, Campbell, Moran, Goddard, Davis (Simpson 81), Pratt, Blaney, Simba, Strevens, Knight. Subs: Harvey, Birch, McKenzie, Clark.

Sent off: Moran. Booked: Davis, Goddard, Strevens, Rooney.

Referee: S Brand.

Attendance: 1,442.