Chester 4 University of Leeds 2
CHESTER’S young guns beat the league leaders on Saturday to secure promotion.
The club’s first XI defeated University of Leeds 4-2 at the Cheshire County Sports Club in Upton.
It was enough guarantee them the second promotion spot, behind runaway champions Leeds, in Division One of the Northern League.
Chester had narrowly missed out on promotion to the Northern Premier Division for the last five seasons, but their policy for developing their own young players has now paid off.
More than half of the squad are under the age of 18 and the first XI started the season with two 14 year olds – Warwick Ryan-Beswick and Huw Barrat.
Chester made a nervous start against Leeds, going 1-0 down. But 17-year-old Bart Ryan-Beswick soon levelled and he followed it up two minutes later with another goal.
Chester carried a 4-1 lead into half time after England Under 18s star Phil Roper netted from penalty corners.
Home keeper Alex Venables made some excellent second half saves to restrict Leeds to just one goal.
