Chester City 1 Shrewsbury 1

Sep 21 2008 by David Triggs, Chester Chronicle

A DISPUTED penalty meant the Blues were left to settle for a point from this afternoon’s derby with in-form Shrewsbury.

A draw was probably the right result on the balance of play, but Chester felt hard done by as the visitors’ goal came from a dubious spot-kick awarded by controversial referee Mark Halsey.

The Bolton-based official was taken off the Premiership list and demoted to League Two for a weekend after wrongly sending off Chelsea’s John Terry at Manchester City last Saturday.

He had a big call to make in the 27th minute when Shrewsbury’s former Chester player Ben Davies went down in the box under a challenge from Stephen Vaughan. The assistant referee on the far side of the pitch appeared to flag to indicate the ball had gone out of play before Vaughan’s tackle had been made, but Halsey pointed straight to the spot.

Grant Holt, Shrewsbury’s big-money summer signing from Nottingham Forest, then made no mistake from 12 yards to put the visitors in front.

It was no more than Paul Simpson’s side had deserved as they had started the game strongly, but Chester began to find their feet as the contest wore on.

They drew level two minutes before the break when Ryan Lowe collected a quickly-taken free-kick on the right wing and fizzed a low cross into the box. Lowe’s centre was met by an expertly timed run and deft finish from Paul McManus, who steered the ball into the far corner to make it 1-1.

The second half was evenly contested, with Lowe, Mark Hughes, Paul Linwood and Kevin Roberts to the fore for the Blues.

Ellison went close with a couple of efforts before Shrewsbury hit the woodwork twice inside a minute. First sub Chris Humphrey volleyed a 75th-minute shot off the post, then striker Dave Hibbert saw a right-footed drive rattle the frame of the goal.

There were no further chances of any note as Chester held on for a point, stretching their unbeaten run to four matches.

Blues boss Simon Davies later admitted he was far from happy with ref Halsey’s penalty decision.

He said: “In close games like that against decent teams, those decisions don’t help. It’s not just that, it’s the 10 minutes after that when people are upset on the pitch.

“But we did well, we stuck at it and I thought we deserved the point.”

Chester: Danby, J Vaughan, Wilson, Roberts, Linwood, Hughes, S Vaughan, Mozika, Lowe (Taylor 90), McManus (Partridge 90), Ellison. Subs: Barry, Harris, Rutherford. Booked: Mozika, Ellison. Goal: McManus 43.

Shrewsbury: Daniels, Herd, Jackson, Coughlan (Langmead 36), Tierney, Davies, Sherriff (Humphrey 69), McIntyre, Thornton, Holt, Hibbert (Walker 81). Subs: Aston, Garner. Booked: Sherriff, Herd, Jackson. Goal: Holt 28.

Referee: Mark Halsey (Bolton).

Attendance: 2,891 (1,444 away).