Whitchurch Men’s 1sts 6

Chester University Men’s 1sts 1

A CHILLY day couldn’t freeze the spirit of Whitchurch firsts as they beat Chester University firsts at home.

Whitchurch’s last home game before Christmas was at risk of not being played at all, with frost covering the pitch in the morning but the cautious wait paid off as the sun made a late appearance.

The Reds started brilliantly, continuing their recent fine run of form, and were two nil up within five minutes, with Tom Forster grabbing a brace.

Jack Barnes had a strong game, driving down the right wing almost unchallenged, firing a number of powerful shots in from the edge of the dee.

One of these shots rebounded up into the air off the keeper and Fred Egerton was on hand to do a tennis-smash style volley into the net.

Still the pressure was kept on the Chester, with Dale Seymour placing the ball into the left side of the goal with a lovely reverse stick strike.

Nick Cooper then grabbed his first from a pass by Ben Kimberley which he put past the diving keeper.

After half-time Chester came out of the blocks impressively after the break and it was a much more even affair.

They put two players up front and started to make better runs, with a number of close chances and Paul ‘Sturge’ Leigh was again impressive in goal, coming out on a number of occasions to block attackers and give the Reds’ defence time to get back and regroup.

However, Chester started to make use of their right wing, which they’d hardly used in the first half, and managed to get a free hit just outside the Whitchurch dee which they got fired in and they had three players on hand to put it over a diving Sturge.

It paid off as a passing move got the ball into the dee and Cooper’s powerful shot was partly stopped, but it still had enough momentum to roll over the line despite the Chester keeper’s diving attempt to stop it.

Given that the second half was 1-1, Whitchurch know they will have a strong challenge in return fixture.