GREAT SCOTT SLOTS HOME AS SPITFIRES FIND FLIGHT
A LAST-GASP goal from substitute Scott Wilson earned Eastleigh the three points, but in truth neither side deserved to win this nervy and dire game.
Not to put too finer point on it, the much-criticised new ITV programme The
Nightly Show, which has been universally panned by the critics, is a thrilling blockbuster when compared to the 90 minutes of football served up at the Deva Stadium yesterday.
Following the game, both managers conceded that the sides looked low on belief, the Spitfires boss Richard Hill saying: “Both teams looked a bit short on confi- dence today; both sides were a little bit nervy.
“It was one of those games today and we have won it and our supporters will say we did well, but we could have easily lost and been criticised.”
Hill continued: “I thought we had a good base to win the match, the players have worked hard in training this week, they deserve credit. But we won’t get carried away’.
An annoyed Chester boss Jon McCarthy reflected: “It was extremely disappointing, confidence is low for some reason at the moment, and we have to lift that.
“It wasn’t a good match, but we switched off for the goal, which is disappointing. The number of times we were caught off-side was very disappointing, and again we will look at that and definitely show an improvement for the game against Macclesfield here on Tuesday’.
For Chester these are worrying times. They have failed to win at the Deva Stadium in 2017 and have recorded just one victory in their last eight outings. Neither side created any opportunities in a desperately poor first half, Matt Tubbs had a couple of efforts from 15 yards; the first was easily saved by Alex Lynch in the home goal, whilst the second sailed aimlessly wide when it seemed an effort on target may well have got a better result. Prompted by the excellent Lucas Dawson in midfield, Chester did find space to set their strikers free, but time and time again Kane Richards was caught off-side. In the dying embers of the half, James Alabi had a good run down the left, he crossed into the middle, but unfortunately Richards missed the ball and the chance went begging. The second half was slightly better than the first, but again both sides wasted any opportunities that came their way. Richards missed a cross from Dawson on the sixyard line, and the same player was at fault again when he screwed the ball wide from 15 yards. At the other end, Ben Close, true to his name, shot narrowly wide with a close-range effort and with the inevitable draw coming into sight Chester conceded a corner in the final minute. Sam Hughes’ delivery found Wilson in space, who had a simple job to hammer the ball home from close range.