Wrexham 0 Chester City 0

BOSS Dean Saunders refused to be downbeat after the Dragons failed to break down their struggling arch rivals in Sunday’s high- noon showdown.

Having watched their side trash title favourites Luton Town in midweek, Wrexham fans arrived at the Racecourse fully expecting victory over the rock-bottom Blues.

But the battling visitors refused to read the script and they made the short trip back across the border with the point they deserved.

While a fifth clean sheet of the Blue Square Premier campaign maintained their excellent defensive record, the Dragons never tested City goalkeeper John Danby as they fired a blank for the fourth time in five matches.

But Saunders said: “I thought the players gave me everything they’ve got but you’ve got to give credit to Chester.

“I thought we were probably the better team but we just didn’t do enough to win.

“Chester looked a bit tired towards the end and I said to the lads they couldn’t keep resisting us and sooner or later we would get on top. I feel we’re fitter than everybody else and I thought we would wear them down, so all credit to them.”

Saunders was correct in his assessment that Chester were forced further back the longer the game wore on, but that cannot disguise the fact that it was Mick Wadsworth’s men who carved out the better chances of a fairly forgettable derby watched by a healthy 5,913 crowd.

They even had the ball in the back of the net after just 45 seconds only for Nick Chadwick’s headed effort to be ruled out for a foul on Chris Maxwell.

The young Wrexham goalkeeper endured a shaky start but he redeemed himself in the ninth minute when he produced a full-length save to deny Gregg Blundell’s flying header. Maxwell should have been given no chance on the half hour, though, but Blundell volleyed wide from eight yards out.

The hosts – unchanged for the first time this season – had to improve after the break and while they did, the closest they came was when Gareth Taylor had a goal-bound shot blocked.

The Dragons – who were away to Kidderminster Harriers on Tuesday night in a match played after the Chronicle went to press – entertain Salisbury City on Saturday (3pm).

It will be Wrexham’s last game for two weeks because the trip to Kettering Town on October 10 has been postponed after Maxwell, Neil Taylor and Marc Williams were called-up into the Wales Under 21s squad for their UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier with Bosnia-Herzegovina at the Racecourse on the same day (12.45pm).

Wrexham booked their place in the FA Youth Cup second qualifying round with 12-0 home romp over Leigh Genesis. Hat-trick heroes Nick Rushton and Declan Walker did most of the damage, with Jordan Kane (2), James Colbeck (2), John Jones and Brian Summerskill also on target.

Wrexham striker Leon Newell struck to earn Wales Under 16s a 1-1 draw in their Pembrokeshire Cup opener at home to Republic of Ireland.