MICHAEL Wilde cast his eye over some of the city’s top young talent on Saturday as Chester Schoolboys teams battled it out in the Cheshire FA Cup.
The Chester FC star striker would have been impressed with what he saw at the Cheshire County Sports Club with both the under 14s and U15s sides producing good performances.
Wilde is now part of the coaching set-up of the U15s – and he watched on as they went down to an undeserved 2-1 defeat to Wirral in their first group game. The match was a re-run of last year’s final which Chester lost.
The hosts started on the assertive as Billy Reeves and Cam Black made menacing runs into the Wirral penalty box. The pressure eventually told when Brandon Garland’s effort deflected in off a defender.
With Aaron Hassall breaking up play effectively, Chester continued to dominate. Tom Donald had an attempt well saved before Sam Jones shot wide.
Jack Minshull then made a stunning close-range stop at the other end, but Wirral were not to be denied and they restored parity on the stroke of half-time.
The second half was a cagey affair as both teams defended stoutly, keeping chances to a minimum.
But when one came Wirral took it despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Minshull.
Chester piled forward in search of an equaliser and Daniel Reynolds and Hassall fired past the post before substitute Sean Crawshaw was denied at the death by a superb save.
Chester boss Lee Cairns said: “The difference was a failure to convert chances, which was hard to take as the team put in a massive effort against a side full of quality.
“The challenge now is for the team to get results against Macclesfield and Knowsley to progress to the semi-finals. The players are a pleasure to manage and they were a credit to themselves, their schools and the Chester Schools FA.”
The U14s beat their Wirral opponents 2-0 with a George Rathbone brace.
