With Jon McCarthy's men still waiting to pick up their first win of the season we thought we'd kick off today's Chester FC daily digest with some much-needed positvity.

Youth wins

And it's the club's thriving academy that provides it.

You may remember that this season the academy is running a scholarship programme .

Well, the scholars are now playing matches and yesterday they beat Kidderminster Harriers Under-17s 7-0 with Lloyd Marsh-Hughes, who made a name for himself in pre-season , hitting a hat-trick.

It came on the back of a brilliant opening weekend for the academy in the North West Youth Alliance.

The Blues' U18s team kicked off their Premier Division campaign with a 5-1 win at home to Altrincham. Marsh-Hughes (2 inc pen), Danny Hardman, James Cottrell and, with a breathtaking overhead kick, Iwan Murray were the goalscorers.

Chester FC's under-18s side have made a winning start to the season

But that result was surpassed by the club's U16s who became the youngest side ever to be named in the league when they won 3-0 at AFC Fylde U17s.

Academy head coach Calum McIntyre said: "The real story of the weekend belongs to our Colts. It has been a brave strategy to put this group of U16s into the North West Youth Alliance against some really strong and largely older opposition.

"For the lads to go and be comfortable and win a game against a full-time side who are entirely a year older says everything about how strong our groups are.

"The core of this group have come through the academy ranks together and the work of Dave Richards, Paul Reid and Jack Maddock in preparing these boys for this season over the past 12 months has been rewarded with an outstanding victory against the most well-resourced club at this level."

Where does the time go?

Couple of anniversaries for you, now.

It is seven years to the day since Chester FC played their first match since reforming under the ownership of the fans.

The 1-1 draw with Warrington Town will live long in the mind. But that hasn't stopped us from taking a trip down Memory Lane with pictures from the historic night at Cantilever Park...

Today also marks 25 years since the Deva Stadium opened. Our Blues reporter Dave Powell takes up the story...

Barrow boss resigns

We've had the second Vanarama National League managerial casualty of the season.

Barrow AFC and Paul Cox have mutually agreed to his resignation.

Barrow boss Paul Cox
Barrow boss Paul Cox has left

A Barrow statement reads: "It was decided that this was in the best interests of both parties. Barrow AFC is grateful to Paul Cox for his work the past two years in taking the club forward. His efforts have made the club more professional both on and off the pitch. We wish him the best of luck in the next step of his career.

"Paul Ogden will stay in his role as head of football operations and Michael Moore will be interim manager until further notice."

Torquay close to appointment

The first non-league top-flight boss to lose his job was Torquay United's Kevin Nicholson.

Torquay welcome Chester to Plainmoor on Saturday week.

Kevin Nicholson lost his job as Torquay United boss

And our sister website Devon Live are reporting the Gulls aim to have a new manager in place by that time .

Former Kidderminster Harriers and Cheltenham Town boss Mark Yates is among the favourites.

Fans have their say

Blues manager McCarthy has stressed this week that he is still the man to take the club forward .

That follows him coming under fire from sections of the crowd in last weekend's home loss to Sutton United .

Our fans' jury members have been discussing that match, and their manager, in this week's column...

Signings

Dover Athletic have signed former Chelsea and England U19s left-back Aziz Deen-Conteh, who has since become a Sierra Leone international.

A more familiar name to Chester supporters is Tom McCready. The Ellesmere Port-born midfielder had an injury hit spell with the club in the 2010-11 season.

But, after stints in America and then with Morecambe and Exeter City, he has joined AFC Fylde.

Bucket collection

A bucket collection to raise funds for an injured Cheshire firefighter will take place at the Blues' derby clash at home to Macclesfield Town on Monday (3pm kick-off).

Vicki Griffiths, a mother of two and the sister of former Chester striker Tom Peers, has been left unable to move from the waist down after an accident at a gym.

As well as coming to terms with her condition, Vicki, who is based in Birchwood, is trying to find the means to finance an extensive programme of home and car adaptations, which are essential to accommodate her needs and enable her to look after her two children.

Friends, family and her colleagues at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service have already launched a series of fundraising initiatives to try and generate the thousands of pounds needed to make her home accessible.

This has included one previous bucket collection at the Blues' summer friendly against Altrincham, Tom's new club, which raised £422.

Vicki's colleagues at Chester Fire Station will be in attendance before the match against Macclesfield to raise funds. They will also bring alone their fire engine for children to have a look around.

Volunteers will be inside the ground collecting money before the game and at half-time.