Guiseley 1 Chester FC 1
New year, same old Blues.
I cannot have been the only one to have experienced a sense of dread when it was announced there would be four added minutes at the end of yesterday's match at Guiseley .
Lo and behold, that feeling proved well-founded and, just when you were recovering from one sucker punch, along came another...
Wrexham add to Chester FC's woes
Such are the fine margins in football, going into the 94th minute of the basement battle at Nethermoor Park, Chester FC were actually just five points adrift of safety, with the added advantage of having two games in hand on the team directly above the relegation places, Barrow AFC.
But then Guiseley scored.
And then so too did Barrow to earn a 3-3 draw at wobbling Wrexham.
It's not often you'll get Blues supporters cheering for the Dragons.
But we could have done with Dean Keates' side holding on.
Instead, they dropped further points in their quest to catch leaders Macclesfield Town, who maintained their six-point lead at the summit with a 4-1 victory at FC Halifax Town.
That's now four league matches without a win for Wrexham.
But their faltering form will be of little consolation to Chester manager Marcus Bignot.
He cut a dejected figure after a much-improved performance failed to warrant three huge points. You can watch his reaction in full HERE .
In contrast, his opposite number, Paul Cox, was bouncing.
The Guiseley boss, whose side beat the Blues 2-0 at the Deva on Boxing Day , said: "If you told me we would get four points from Chester in the past week I would have taken it.
"We looked a bit anxious, but now we've have had a good talk and feel we can build on this point. We know it will be a challenge to stay up, I'm feeling positive, though, and we showed a real mentality to fight right until the end."
Jordan Chapell hat-trick
Bignot's mood will not have been helped by the news that he will not be able to keep the players he currently has on loan .
That could open the door to members of the squad who are not currently in his plans.
One such player is Jordan Chapell.
And, while it was another tough afternoon for his parent club, it was a good one for Chapell.
The winger scored the first hat-trick of his career in Stalybridge Celtic's 5-2 home win over Lancaster City.
Chapell, who is on loan with Steve Burr's Evo-Stik League Premier Division strugglers , even received congratulations from an England international...
Tranmere trounced
If there was one team who looked like breaking out of the chasing pack and giving Macclesfield a run for their money, then it was Tranmere Rovers.
Tranmere made the trip to AFC Fylde yesterday on the back of five straight convincing league victories.
But they were trounced 5-2 by a Fylde side, managed by Rovers old boy Dave Challinor, who welcome Chester to their impressive Mill Farm home a week tonight (January 9).
Big movers
Solihull Moors were the big movers on an afternoon when five of the bottom six teams all picked up at least a point (Torquay United's match at home to Eastleigh was postponed).
That was after Moors won a tempestuous encounter featuring two red cards 3-1 at home to Maidenhead United.
It secured Solihull's first back-to-back wins of the season - something Bignot's Blues are yet to achieve - and moved them off the bottom and up to 21st.
Fans spill on to the pitch
Aldershot are the closest team to table-topping Macclesfield after they won their derby at out-of-form Woking 2-1.
But there was a short delay after the travelling Shots fans spilled on to the pitch celebrating what proved to be Scott Rendell's late winner.
