Chester FC 1
Nantwich Town 1
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

JIMMY Quinn says consistency will now be the key for a Nantwich Town playoff push after an impressive away draw at table topping Chester FC.
Michael Lennon gave the Dabbers a 51st minute lead but ex-Crewe Alex midfielder Antoni Sarcevic levelled two minutes later in front of a club record crowd of 3560 at the Exacta Stadium.
Now the Nantwich boss wants to see a prolonged run of results from his side in a second half push towards the top five.
Quinn said: “On the back of the win against Stafford and the draw here I am going to encourage the lads to keep that consistency up and hopefully we can get near the playoffs.
“In this league anybody can beat anybody and it’s only sides like Chester, who are very consistent, who stand out.”
Chester had the better of the play in the first half and Nantwich were thankful to the heroics of goalkeeper Jon Brain who pulled off a string of fantastic saves to keep the score level.
Matty McNeil was the first to force a save from the ex-Port Vale and Macclesfield stopper, his shot on 14 minutes was well saved by Brain before Sarcevic smashed the rebound against the crossbar.
Chances were few and far between for the Dabbers in the first 45 but Dave MacPherson twice flashed wide from distance, the midfielder also fed through a pass towards Ben Mills which caused confusion between Chester’s Michael Taylor and goalkeeper John Danby with the defender nearly poking into his own goal.
The save of the match and arguably of the season came on the stroke of half time as the lively Sarcevic broke down the left and fed through Jerome Wright, Wright’s powerful eight yard strike looking destined for the top left corner but Brain managed to get a hand on the ball to push wide.
Nantwich took the lead just after half time, good interplay between Mills and substitute Aleksandrs Solovjovs created space for Michael Lennon to work his way into the area and slide the ball into Danby’s bottom left hand corner, much to the delight of his manager.
Quinn added: “I thought Lenny was brilliant today, he showed great experience, held the ball up well and took his goal brilliantly.”
That lead lasted only two minutes though as ex-Port Vale midfielder Christian Smith pumped the ball down the left hand side to Sarcevic who skipped to the edge of the area and rifled home a right footed drive into the top corner.
The Dabbers boss was frustrated to be pegged back so quickly but he reserved praise for his defence’s character in the closing stages.
“The disappointing thing was that they went up the other end and scored which put us on the back foot again.
“I thought the lads showed a lot of character though; I thought Jon Brain, Darren Moss and Mat Bailey were outstanding as there isn’t going to be many sides that come away from here with something.”
Both sides had late chances to win the game with Chester throwing everything at Nantwich; Michael Powell went closest as he struck the post with his 25 yard strike.
The Dabbers may have nicked in stoppage time as Niall Maguire first forced a save from Danby and then Mills headed wide from Tom Urwin’s cross.
Chester: Danby, Brownhill, Smith, Horan, Taylor, Brown, Wright (Simm, 81), Powell, McNeil (Wilde, 62), Sarcevic, Booth (Ormrod, 72). Subs: Duggan, Judge.
Nantwich: Brain, Lowe, Foster (Solovjovs, 45), MacPherson, Bailey, Moss, Cooke (Urwin, 76), Flynn © (Maguire, 56), Mills, Lennon, McDonald. Subs: Wakefield, Jack.
Attendance: 3560

Match report written by Ashley Houghton