County 2 Chester FC 4 ( FA Cup 4QR) 25 October 2014
County
exited the FA Cup today, losing 4-2 to Conference Premier Chester FC watched by
a bumper Edgeley Park crowd of nearly 5000.
Railway End- Full for a change! |
After a
first 45 minutes best forgotten, in which Chester came and went at will
,scoring a couple of goals that on another day County might have been expected
to prevent, the blues gave the crowd a second half to remember with a fighting
comeback, Dennis and Spencer scoring twice in as many minutes immediately after
the break. It couldn`t last however, and with tempers fraying all over the
place( County`s Dennis and Chester`s Mike Kay getting red cards), Chester scored again through McConville and
Henaghan to put the tie to bed, despite a brave effort from County.
The tone of
proceedings was set early on and a feisty match looked in prospect as both
teams tested the referee`s resolve- Spencer with one of his trademark dives (
no free kick given) as former Hatter Kieran Charnock came within sniffing
distance of him ,and Chester via Craig Mahon who launched himself a touch over
combatively into Hurst who was about to gather and in no position to give back
like for like.
It went on
with another ex blue, Craig Hobson, who was to be a real handful all afternoon
for Gregson, appearing to elbow the County number five- a circumstance that
resulted in a free kick to Chester thanks to some overheated theatricals from Hobson.
More antics better suited to the Old Vic than E.P. followed as Hurst did a good
job in beating Charnock and Ben Heneghan to a dangerous ball, only for the
latter to adopt a near death posture on the goal line! This was not a pretty sight
to behold, and did not augur well for the rest of the afternoon! We needed
County to concentrate on what they do best and not get side tracked by their
opponents antics, but instead County took a blow when Matt Hughes scraped his
studs down Toddy`s Achilles as the Stockport lad got the drop on him.
No free
kick followed, but Todd had to be substituted, being replaced by Glenn
Belezika, which was not a great start.
County did
try to fashion a response but when it came, Dennis`s through ball aimed at
Spencer was altogether too strong to give him any realistic chance, and from
the resultant goal kick, there was a `beach ball moment’ reminiscent of the Liverpool/ Pepe Reina
incident some while back, as a cross from Heneghan arrived with Hurst at the
precise time that a beach ball did. Hurst was momentarily distracted, but
managed to grab the correct pill in the end!
A shot
apiece came next.....Hobson for Chester......Dennis for County...both causing
few problems for the respective keepers, but 14 minutes in and County appeared
to have been holed amidships as Hobson treated a long ball with more
seriousness than did County`s defenders, and the slightest of touches from him
saw the ball bounce into the County net. That was an awful moment ,but rescue
was at hand in the form of the lady liner who had her flag up-raised to
indicate offside presumably, and no one around me was about to argue with that!
Chester were
enjoying a lot of possession, but their finishing was not at all accurate ,and
I was tempted to laugh as Jack Rooney, Ben Heneghan, and Craig Mahon all lifted efforts into our midst in the Cheadle
End. Instead .....I bellowed in rage to see the same player who had gone to
work on Toddy`s Achilles( Matt Hughes )...attempt to do the same to Lees – this
was so annoying and there was no sign of retribution in the form of a card!
A minute on
from this and there were other things to get all angst ridden about , most
notably loose play just outside the box by County that allowed Mahon to send
McConville surging clear, whereupon he took great pleasure I am sure, in
slotting the ball home! Unfortunately this unloved social loafer then took
himself off in the direction of the Cheadle End on a `gloat fest’ that
thoroughly got up the noses of the County crowd- earning the Chester player a
well deserved booking.
The goal was
a real blow, but not totally unexpected based on the run of play, and County
were thankful to Belezika who did just enough next to deny Mahon room enough to
shoot or pass as he jinked his way into the box!
We needed a
response from County.....any response.....but despite good collaborative work
by Dennis and Spencer, Churchman`s shot drifted wide of Jon Worsnop`s goal.
After that
brief interruption in the flow, Chester resumed attacking, and a cross by
Heneghan saw Hurst get only the slightest of touches on the ball as Hobson
hurried in at speed. Thankfully Hurst recovered well, and was able to grab the
ball before Hobson could force it home....but it was close!
The
attacking play continued from Chester, with Hobson looking the man most likely
to......but when the next goal came it came from another source, namely Matt
Hughes. Hughes was allowed ample time to cut inside from the left and traverse
the edge of the box, before rifling home a shot that came at and past Hurst
through a forest of assorted legs! It was 2-0 to Chester and probably `game
over’.
That
said.......a couple of minutes later....a foul on Dennis by Kay, ushered in a
Milligan free kick, but when the loose ball fell at Churchman`s feet ,his shot again
was well wide.
Once more...that
last action was but a brief interruption in the regular flow of play, and
Chester soon resumed attacking, and it was alarming to see Belezika left on his
own to deal with the dual threat of Hughes and Roberts.
Rooney`s eventual shot
went wide, but understandably Belezika made his thoughts on the subject known
to his team mates! Belezika had more work to do shortly after, and he coped
really well....better than others in fact, who seemed content to allow a queue
of Chester forwards to form on the edge of the box looking for a scoring
position.
Once.....twice....Belezika was the man on the spot, and both times he
did the biz- the second occasion being a real chance as Hobson was clear smack
in front of goal.
The last 5
minutes of the half were a procession of Chester attacks........Mahon foiled by
Churchman`s timely slider......McConville by a Hurst catch, and Rooney first by
Belezika ,and then a vital last ditcher from Fagbola.
The half
ended with County 2 down and probably slightly relieved about that!
The
resumption saw Woolfe on in place of Baker, as I confirmed to Darren on Row Q
that it was `game over’ really.
Well....that`s
what I thought, but within a couple of minutes there was some word eating going
on in Row R as County pulled one back.
It started with a fair old blocking
tackle by O`Halloran on Mahon which in an instant turned defence to attack!
From O`Halloran ...in no time the ball found its way to Woolfe, and seconds
later it was in the net as Woolfe`s pass had picked Dennis out precisely and he
had fired a cool finish past Worsnop into the net.
Wow......did
the County faithful like that, and a mighty roar threatened the peace of Hardcastle
Road and around as suddenly the whiff of a chance surfaced!
I had barely
time to scribble the legend `game on’, and add the obvious? before the stadium
erupted as County scored a second and it was a real belter! County, urged on by
a rejuvenated crowd, had just threatened again, and Charnock had had to
hurriedly find touch with alarm bells ringing.
If Chester thought that the subsequent throw would be the end of
it....they were 100% wrong, as Dennis`s pass picked Spencer out and he thrashed
a drive of fearsome power past the keeper into the net to make it 2-2!
If that was
simply excellent.....more and better almost followed it- thwarted
....alas.....by a brilliant diving save from Worsnop, who somehow managed to
tip Woolfe`s goal bound shot onto the bar and away! Yes......County were at
last playing with real determination, and in response Chester`s play was
becoming ragged!
That
said....the 54th minute saw the Railway End go up to a man/woman to
acclaim a goal as a shot from Roberts came in, but it had struck the side
netting and they were disappointed!
A hurried
punch out by Hurst that laid Belezika out for a while, and a close thing
involving Spencer....Dennis and Worsnop, emphasised that despite everything it
was anyone`s game now!
Nevertheless....at
this point, County were doing OK...... a slight rub of the green and
perhaps......... but it was not to be and the 66th minute they went
behind again when Mahon fired a cross in from the right for McConville to force
his side`s third goal home from close in.
That was a
bummer, and almost got worse as Mahon skipped inside past O`Halloran before
welting another shot narrowly wide of the target! To their credit though,
County kept plugging away –a Spencer break forcing a corner, and much good work
from Belezika coming ultimately to nothing.
I had begun
to lose count now of the number of cards but I noted that Charnock had earned
his with about 20 minutes left, but overall he was doing better than I had
thought that he would! Then it kind of all fell apart for County as another
Chester raid seemed to have ended with another Chester corner. But the kick was
well placed, and County`s man to man marking wasn`t, and Heneghan had the
simple task of heading home from a yard or so out making it 4-2 to the visitors.
It was nip
and tuck for much of the time after this, both teams having a go, and County
were unlucky , with 10 minutes left, to see a Milligan free kick skid out of
play, off Charnock`s head rather than finish up in the net. What followed on
from this was not at all edifying....the pressure was on Chester, who were
forced to concede another corner in the face of the County threat. This came to
the near post where McColville and Dennis went for it. McConville went down,
and there was definite contact with Dennis involved. It was unclear as to
whether any foul , on either part, had been perpetrated, but any doubt was
removed pretty swiftly when Dennis followed through a second time. In a trice
McConville was down and in another Dennis was walking, and we will miss him in
some vital matches, which is doubly disappointing! Meanwhile WW3 had broken out
with Belezika and Kay the central figures, which ended with a yellow for the
Stockport man and red for Kay.
So....both
sides were now down to 10 men....County attacked gamely via Belezika....then
Woolfe, but in both cases the finish lacked the aplomb of the approach work.
Added time
came in with a bang as a thunderous shot from Woolfe brought another amazing(
one handed ) diving save from Worsnop . The follow up from Spencer seemed to
strike Charnock`s hand, but the referee thought otherwise and that was that.
Substitute
Jamie Menagh did get a late/late yellow for his `dying swan’ bit as Hurst dived
to make a save....
..... O`Halloran saw a shot charged down, and Belezika showed us
more excellence in stopping Rooney who was clean through and set fair to add a
fifth until the Stockport substitute arrived to thwart him!
Good
stuff.....a decent effort by County, at least in the second half, and the crowd
were content to applaud them off at the end before leaving for home.
I am just
sad about Dennis getting sent off and thus missing games, and then there`s the policing bill which will no doubt mean we make
precisely nowt from this encounter!
We are still
very much in the promotion hunt with chances however, so I for one will head
off for Harrogate next Saturday bearing that in
mind( and looking forward to the catering!)
County line
up:
Hurst, Todd
( Belezika 9), Lees, Gregson, Fagbola( Moses 87), O`Halloran, Milligan, Churchman,
Baker ( Woolfe 45), Spencer, Dennis.
Substitutes
not used:
Ormson,
Lofthouse, Lazenbury, Hancock.
Chester FC
line up;
Worsnop,
Heneghan, Roberts G, James, Charnock, Kay, Mahon, McConville, Hobson, Rooney,
Hughes.
Substitutes:
Touray,
Winn, Brown, Harrison, Roberts C,
Menagh, Hall.
Attendance:
4612
Ian Brown
Comments
Post a Comment