WHATEVER the reason for sending Paul Carden out to face the media following Chester's crucial victory over Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday, it was an appropriate gesture.
The inspirational City captain returned following suspension to lead his team to victory in a match they could not afford to lose.
And his measured summing-up of the game and the players' response to a poor performance against Cheltenham a few days earlier did much to take the heat of what was potentially a tricky situation for Ian Rush and coach Mark Aizlewood.
Chester rediscovered their passion to dominate fellow strugglers Rushden & Diamonds who looked as ineffective as City had done against Cheltenham.
The result was never in doubt once Taiwo Atieno had scored his first goal for the club which also happened to be Chester's first at home in 2005.
The drought was never going to turn into a flood and Chester haven't turned overnight into a goal machine, but with Joe O'Neill also getting his name on the scoresheet for the first time the two youngsters should take some confidence from their success and, maybe, go on to prove they can make their mark in the league.
In between their goals, defender Sean Hessey claimed the goal of the match, a blistering 20-yard free-kick which gave Rushden goal-keeper Lee Worgan no chance and earned City a 2-0 interval lead they never looked like relinquishing.
Rush vowed, following a team meeting last week, he would allow the players to do it their way and they responded positively, although some may question playing Michael Branch wide.
The man who usually plays up front rarely saw the ball after setting up Atieno for the opening goal after a quarter of an hour.
But with five changes in the team which lost to Cheltenham an improvement was demanded by the fans and they weren't disappointed.
Having conceded six goals in successive games the de-fence, bolstered by Darren Edmondson and Richard Hope - Wayne Brown also returned in goal - was solid and rarely looked like conceding until the last few minutes when Rushden surprisingly managed to find a way through.
No City supporter will get carried away by this victory against a team which could return to the Conference at the end of the season, but at least Chester looked committed again.
And with another six-pointer coming up at Kidderminster tomorrow they are going to have to prove they have the stomach for a battle.
