Chester City 2, Morecambe 1: CHESTER City gave their fans a fright as usual on Saturday, but Morecambe's reply was too little and too late to prevent the Blues paying another instalment on the Conference title.
Goalkeeper Iain Turner was fooled by a cruel bounce on a lob from Stewart Drummond in added time and he could only watch in horror as the ball arched over his head to set up what could have been a grandstand finish. It was tough on Turner who had just been announced as the sponsors' man-of-the-match.
As it was, Morecambe simply didn't have the time to make the most of their good fortune and City had little trouble holding on to a deserved victory.
Said boss Mark Wright: 'I thought we gave them too much respect in the first half. At half-time I told the players I wanted them to step among Morecambe.
'We should have won more convincingly. They had a couple of chances that would have made a game of it, but only from our bad defending or a bit of luck.' It was fitting that Drummond should score the goal, because the elegant midfielder was easily the visitors' best player and the City supporters would be more than happy on this evidence if Wright managed to sign the man he has targeted all season.
It isn't often we have a goalless first half at the Deva, but there were chances for both sides to have broken the deadlock. Daryl Clare had a goal disallowed for offside and his cross a few minutes earlier was only a whisker away from being converted by Darryn Stamp, but the City goal was not without its alarms.
Turner distinguished himself by foiling Jim Bentley on 39 minutes and, from the ensuing corner, former Chester striker Ryan Sugden should have done better than to head over the bar.
Chester could have been frustrated that they had failed to break Morecambe down, but it took less than 20 seconds of the second half to strike. Stamp and Clare carved open the Morecambe defence and Alex Smith - a thorn in the visitors' side all afternoon - finished crisply.
Another Clare goal was disallowed in the 54th minute as Chester put More-cambe under relentless pressure. But Morecambe were always a threat on the break and Turner produced the save of the match to prevent the huge embarrassment of another former City player, Chris Blackburn, providing a goal for Sugden, who looked odds-on to equalise.
As long as the lead remained so tenuous, the home fans couldn't relax and it was a relief on 81 minutes when another good run by Smith set up Clare to produce one of his trademark finishes.
Drummond gave warning of what was to come when he had Turner in action in the closing moments, but this save couldn't match the one made by Ian Dunbavin which prevented Clare from snatching his second goal.
Chester: Turner, Collins, Guyett, Heard, Bolland, Carden, McIntyre, Williams (Davies 79), Clare, Smith, Stamp. Subs: Rapley, Carey, Lane, Twiss.
Booked: McIntyre. Morecambe: Dunbavin, McKearney, Perkins Murphy, Bentley, Drummond, Howell (Hunter 63), Carlton (Curtis 79), Walmsley, Sugden (Rogan 79), Blackburn. Subs: Garnett, Swan.
Booked: Howell. Referee: D Drysdale, Lincoln. Attendance: 3,512.
