Stevenage 2, Chester City 1

Oct 5 2001 Chester Chronicle

CHESTER City's flirtation with relegation continued on Saturday when they succumbed to a double strike from substitute Darran Hay.

They looked to be on the way to a rare victory after Mark Beesley had fired them in front on 37 minutes, with the help of a big deflection off Sam Sodje following a corner from Sam Hill.

It would probably have been a flattering success, for they had to thank goalkeeper Wayne Brown early on for two fine saves in rapid succession from Chris Tate and Sam McMahon.

Gordon Hill's team came under pressure almost from the start of the second half and it wasn't long before Hay made his mark.

Just three minutes had been played when the substitute volleyed home at the far post from a corner and 12 minutes later he scored again, pouncing on a loose ball in the penalty area.

The double strike seemed to knock the heart out of the visitors and Stevenage never looked like letting them back in the game.

Chester could have done with someone on the bench with Hay's ability to change the course of the game.

Said Stevenage boss Paul Fairclough: 'We needed something in the box because we were getting in a lot of crosses with no-one on the end of them.

'So I put Darran Hay on, because that's his forte.'

Stevenage: Wilkerson, Hamsher (Haty 46), Goodliffe, Dreyer, Sturgess, Sodje, McMahon, Castle, Clarke, Williams, Tate (Armstrong 73). Subs: Trott, Walters, Greygoose.

Chester: Brown, Roberts (Malkin 65), M Rose, Porter, Lancaster, Spink, Hill, Woodyatt, Kerr (S Rose 76), Beesley (Lopez 90), Ruscoe. Sub: Bertocchi.

Referee: S Habgood.

Attendance: 1,690.