WHILE Mark Wright had every reason to be concerned about his injury-hit squad following this rather tame display, given they open their Conference season as favourites this coming Saturday, Motors manager Alvin McDonald was once again delighted with the performance of his part-timers.
The Motormen have now faced five full-time sides in their build up to the new UniBond Premier Division season which kicks off a week on Saturday away to Lancaster City, and have only once found themselves out of place, despite also being without key players.
Indeed, at Rivacre Park on Saturday, they almost took the lead as early as the fifth minute with a sweeping, five-man move.
Nicky Young and Neil McCann did the spade work, before Derek Ward played a fine ball up the right flank from where Robbie Lawton centred perfectly for the incoming captain Kevin Lynch - unfortunately, his header clipped the top side of the crossbar with Wayne Brown, in the Chester goal, stranded.
City defender Carl Ruffer saw one close-range shot hit team-mate Kevin Rapley on the thigh, who was almost on the goal-line and land on the top of the net, but equally, Terry Fearns' cut inside from the left needed Danny Collins to clear the danger at the other end and both Peter Cumiskey and McCann kept Brown on his toes.
Chester upped the tempo towards half time and Rapley was unlucky when his rasping shot hit the foot of an upright from 25-yards, while co-striker Mark Beesley was only just off target shortly after.
On the resumption, Vauxhall's Lawton thought he had good claims for a penalty, when he appeared to be hauled down by Paul Carden inside the box, but moments later, City's Ben Davies hit a screamer from over 20 yards which struck the crossbar full on.
Young almost responded when he got in front of Collins but could not direct his glancing header, from Cumiskey's free kick, on target.
Midway through the second half, a Jon Brady corner caused mayhem in the Motors ranks, but with just 13 minutes remaining, Vauxhall took the lead, which was a defensive nightmare for Chester as Kevin McIntyre failed to heed the call from his outward moving keeper, and instead headed the ball towards a gaping goal, beyond the reach of Brown, and Motors lively substitute Jamie Hughes duly rolled the ball into the empty net.
But any hopes the Motor-men had of putting one over their high-profile neighbours were diminished just four minutes later, when more sloppy defensive play led to an equal-iser.
A poor goal-kick by Motors substitute keeper Steve Hilton immediately put his defender Ward under pressure and he lost out in his battle with City sub Ian Foster, who ran on and struck a sweet shot into the top corner.
After that, either side could have snatched a winner - Hughes was denied by Brown as he bore down on the City goal, while Sam Sodje and Jamie Herd both went close for City in the dying moments.
But a draw was a fitting result and one which undoubtedly brought a smile to the face of Vauxhall boss McDonald.
"We've taken a good deal of satisfaction from that result and performance today," he said.
"Their 7-0 win here 12 months ago has haunted me ever since and it was nice to match them today and we deserved a draw. Let's not forget, Chester are the favourites in many eyes to win the Confer-ence this season, they are another full-time side and we've stuck with them every inch of the way.
"Last year they had one of those days, when everything they did came off and the quality of their finishing that afternoon was exceptional. We did well for 30 minutes that day and then it was a case of bang, bang, bang!"
He added: "From a personal point of view, I think we needed to put on a performance today, to show the Chester fans that we are not a bad side, in the hope they may come and watch us when Chester are playing away somewhere, and I know we did that today.
"I've had some nice compliments from people and saying that they will come again. So I think we have put the record straight."
McDonald said he was pleased with the newcomers in his team. "Chris Whelan has done exceptionally well for us and looks a really good signing. I was delighted with Neil McCann today - he's got quality, vision and a good football brain and the only thing he's short of is experience and he'll only get that from playing more games. But I'm pleased with all of them, especially their attitude," he enthused.
"Even today, chances were even-stephen. To compete on the same pitch and not be over-run or outplayed, is a clear positive for us, because these teams are good teams. We've just got to take this into our season now."
Meanwhile, the Motormen have finally added midfielder Anton Lally to their squad, having obtained his release from Colwyn Bay this last week and some supporters are keen to know a little more about Vauxhall's goalscorer, 26-year-old Jamie Hughes.
Jamie has had experience with Tranmere and Cardiff and has played in the north and the south, over in Ireland, and proved to be a real handful for the City defence following his second-half introduction.
Tonight, Vauxhall supporters can gain entrance to the match against Peter Davenport's Bangor City for half-price, as a special thank you for their support to date, in what is their last home friendly.
This coming Saturday, the Motormen take to the road to take on NWCL club Newcastle Town (3pm), before rounding off their pre-season programme at Christleton, a week tonight (6.45pm).
