Chester City 1 Lincoln City 2

Apr 12 2008 by Alec Doyle, Chester Chronicle

FANS at the Deva Stadium were stunned with the opening 20 minutes of this match as Chester dominated and took the lead - then were even more stunned when three minutes later the Blues had fallen behind.

After just four opening minutes of pressure, Simon Davies’ side won a penalty when keeper Alan Marriott took out John Murphy who was clean through.

He only picked up a booking but injured himself in the collision. That was not enough to prevent him stopping Kevin Ellison’s poor penalty but it did see him replaced on 16 minutes.

On 20 came Chester’s goal. A sweeping move down the right hand side saw Rutherford lift the ball into the box.

Young Paul McManus was underneath it and his outstretched leg just carried it over replacement keeper Ayden Duffy and into the net for his first senior goal.

Just 30 seconds later Chester's dream began to become a nightmare as from the kick-off Lincoln burst forward and Jamie Forrester fired home.

In the 23rd minute Forrester struck again when a free-kick from Dany N’Guessan was flicked on and the Blues did not pick up the dangerman, who lashed a shot past John Danby to make it 2-1.

Chester seemed justifiably stunned and it wasn’t until the second half when the battling James Vaughan came on that Chester regained any kind of momentum.

On 69 minutes N’guessan was sent off for a second booking after following through on Laurence Wilson. His first card had been for complaining that the referee did not give him a free-kick in the first half.

Chester began to dominate towards the end and created a lot of chances but they simply could not finish them off as players consistently snatched at the ball.

Chester: Danby, Roberts, Wilson, Kelly (Vaughan 46), Linwood, Hughes, Sandwith, Rutherford (Rule 69), Ellison, McManus, Murphy.

Subs: Palethorpe, Mitchell, Dinning.

Booked: Hughes

Goal: McManus 20

Lincoln: Marriott (Duffy 16), Croft, Moses, Beevers, Frecklington, Forrester (King 83), Wright, N’guessan, Dodds, Pembleton (Hone 75), Ridley.

Subs: Brown, Stallard.

Booked: Marriott, N’guessan, Pembleton

Sent off: N’guessan

Goals: Forrester 20, 23.

Attendance 2,089

Referee: Paul Melin (Frimley)