Chester City 1 Hereford United 1

Oct 13 2007 by Alec Doyle, Chester Chronicle

BEFORE this match both managers said this match would provide them with a benchmark for their season so far – and it seems that the result is that the sides occupying second and third are pretty evenly matched.

Hereford’s gameplan was disrupted in the third minute when defender Dean Beckwith suffered a suspected broken jaw in an aerial challenge. He tried to continue but was swapped for John McCombe three minutes later.

Chester applied constant pressure with Kevin Ellison, upfront once more, Richie Partridge and Simon Marples linking up well to open up Hereford time and time again.

Paul Linwood almost scored in the seventh minute when a free-kick was whipped in but former Blue Wayne Brown made a point-blank save.

Ellison tried a cheeky 35-yard effort which Brown gathered at the second attempt and Partridge should have broken the deadlock on 20 minutes when a one-two between him and John Murphy put him through but he was taken out in the box and his penalty appeals were turned down by the referee.

The introduction of Simon Yeo in the 56th minute after a solid performance from Paul McManus changed the dynamic of Chester’s attack.

Just three minutes after coming on Yeo had scored – his third in three league substitute appearances – after he pounced on a ball bobbling around in the Hereford area.

United boss Graham Turner introduced Lionel Ainsworth on 64 minutes and he lifted the whole side.

City began to feel the pressure and their cause was not helped when the talismanic Yeo was forced off with a foot injury in the 75th minute.

Three minutes later, Hereford levelled the score, Toumani Diagouraga forcing the ball over the line through a crowd from a corner.

Paul Rutherford’s introduction helped Chester push for a winner in the final minutes but in the end both teams cancelled each other out, albeit in a thrilling end-to-end encounter.

Chester City: Danby, Wilson, Butler, Linwood, Marples, Partridge (Rutherford 88), Hughes, Dinning, McManus (Yeo 56, Holroyd 75), Ellison, Murphy. Subs: Palethorpe, Roberts.

Hereford United: Brown, McClenahan, Broadhurst, Smith, Guinan (Benjamin 77), Taylor, Easton, Diagouraga, Webb (Ainsworth 64), Robinson, Beckwith (McCombe 6). Subs: Ingham, Rose.

Attendance: 3,430.

Referee: Clive Oliver (Northumberland)