Wycombe Wanderers 2 Chester City 0

Mar 4 2009 by Paul Wheelock, Chester Chronicle

THE Blues were left to rue missed chances as their winless League Two run stretched to 13 matches at rainswept Adams Park last night.

And to make matters worse, relegation rivals Bournemouth and Barnet both won to heighten City’s fears of slipping into the non-league wilderness.

The outcome would have been different had Mark Wright’s men taken the opportunities that came their way, especially before the break.

With Richie Partridge in for Ben Jones and Glenn Rule replacing the injured Shaun Kelly, Chester held their own in an exciting and evenly-fought first half.

They should have taken the lead in the 14th minute when Partridge cut inside and unleashed a 20-yard shot which Jamie Young parried into the path of Ryan Lowe, who really should have converted the rebound from six yards out.

Kevin Ellison then flashed a 15-yard effort wide, but it was title-challenging Wycombe who opened the scoring in the 26th minute when the lively Matty Phillips put a finishing touch to a breakaway move which began after an attempted short corner at the other end of the field broke down.

The visitors, who lost Laurence Wilson to injury, stormed back and Young had to react quickly to deny Ellison from 25 yards.

And the Australian goalkeeper did it again shortly after the restart as he tipped over another long-range rocket from Ellison.

After a good period of pressure from the hosts, who are now up to second, Lowe turned David McCracken and skimmed the post from 20 yards.

But City’s hopes were dashed in the 67th minute when the unmarked Jon-Paul Pittman fired in from close range after Craig Woodman’s free kick was headed into his path by Chris Zebroski.

WYCOMBE: Young, Woodman, Johnson, McCracken, Doherty, Zebroski, Pittman (Harrold 67), Mousinho, Beavon (Ashton 84), Casement, Phillips (Spence 89). Subs: Shearer, Oliver.

GOALS: Phillips 26, Pittman 67.

CHESTER: Danby, Vaughan, Roberts, Linwood, Rule, Wilson (Owen 46), Barry, Mannix (Smith 82), Lowe, Ellison, Partridge (Rutherford 72). Subs: Jones, Ellams.

REFEREE: Rob Shoebridge (Derbyshire).

ATTENDANCE: 3,713.