Chance for Witton on 90+1 minutes - Chester keeper Alex Lynch denies Karl Noon with a brilliant save.
Red card:
Chester’s Kane Richards on 90+3 minutes for a foul on Witton’s Matty Devine. Second Yellow.
Chance for Witton on 90+5 minutes - Bradley Bauress shot saved by Alex Lynch in the Chester goal with his boots.
Full Time Score from The NetDec Stadium:
Witton Albion 1 Chester FC 1.
Replay at The Lookers Vauxhall Stadium on Tuesday, 13th December - kick off 7.45pm.
A fabulous performance by the Albs where the right result would have seen Chester out of the cup. Those Chester fans who witnessed this must wonder which team was the national conference team after they were battered for nearly all of the 90mins. We never for one moment looked anything less than Chester’s equals and with a bit more fortune would and could have been out of sight. Well done players and staff. They have a right to be proud of their performance and I know this is one proud Albion fan tonight !
from Chester Chron…
Chester FC can count themselves fortunate to still be in the FA Trophy after limping to a 1-1 draw at Witton Albion.
Jordan Chapell had handed Chester a first-half lead on 36 minutes but Brad Bauress levelled midway through the second half as Witton dominated proceedings.
The Blues, who had Kane Richards sent off late on, will now face Albion at home on Tuesday in a replay in a bid to make round two, but they will need to be far better than they were at Wincham Park.
Chester made one change from the team that drew 1-1 at Guiseley seven days previous with Chapell coming in to replace Craig Mahon, sidelined through illness.
Despite being three leagues below the Blues, Witton started on the front foot at Wincham Park, clearly buoyed by their success over higher league opposition on Tuesday night when they beat National League North outfit Boston United 4-2.
But while Witton had plenty of the ball in dangerous areas of the pitch, they failed early on to test the Blues and it was Elliott Durrell’s tame drive from 20 yards that was the only meaningful action of the opening 30 minutes.
Chester enjoyed some bright spells themselves but it wasn’t until the 36th minute that a breakthrough was made.
Tom Shaw whipped in a cross that found the head of Richards who headed downwards towards goal at the far post with the ball eventually finding Chapell who had the simplest of tasks, nodding home from two yards.
Witton didn’t respond immediately but they almost levelled matters just before the break.
Ex-Chester striker Rob Hopley, the first player to score a competitive goal for the reformed Blues back in 2010, brought down a high ball on the edge of the area, springing the offside trap, but his looped effort couldn’t find its way over Lynch.
The best chance of the half for Albion was yet to come, though, as they almost restored parity on the stroke of half time when Tolani Omotola raced onto a long ball, sliding under an advancing Lynch, but Sam Hughes was on hand to clear off the line.
The Blues failed to come out of the traps early in the second half and, but for a half chance for Hughes from a Durrell free-kick, failed to test the home side.
And it was Carl Macauley’s men who struck next. Bauress stroking home from 12 yards after ex-Vauxhall Motors man Karl Noon had seen his effort cleared off the line by Hughes. It was no less than they deserved.
Chester failed to really test Witton keeper Daniel Roberts and the home side continued to dominate, making the Blues look as if it were they who plied their trade in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier.
Noon almost had them in the lead on 77 minutes when Noon raced onto a loose ball, with Ryan Astles racing across to slide tackle him and the rebound cannoning off Noon and on to the cross bar.
The rain began to pour and the home side continued to grow in confidence, putting the visitors on the back foot time and time again.
Chester’s woes were increased in added time when Richards was shown a second yellow for a bad tackle on Tom Owens, with a scuffle involving the two following.
And Witton almost won it at the death but Lynch saved well with his feet. It would have been no less than the home side deserved.
VERDICT
If Chester were to go out here then they could have had no complaints.
Witton looked like the National League side and dominated Chester, certainly in the second half, and could and should have won.
There were few, if any, positives. It was an afternoon to forget and Tuesday night must provide a panacea to this afternoon.
They cling on. Just.
STAR MAN
Alex Lynch : Nobody covered themselves in glory but Lynch made some key saves to keep the Blues in it.
MATCH FILE
Witton Albion: Roberts, Lycett (Gardner 61), Devine, Wilson, Brown, Haywood, Noon, Owens, Hopley, Omotola, Bauress. Subs: Adigun, Hickman, Garner.
Bookings: Wilson
Goals: Bauress 62
Chester: Lynch, Hunt (Waters 75), Hudson, Hughes, Astles, Shaw (Joyce 80), Lloyd, Durrell (George 80), Chapell, Alabi, Richards. Subs: Horwood, Marsh.
Bookings: Richards, George
Sent off: Richards
Goals: Chapell 36
the longer the game went on the more it looked like we would win it, and Chester could have no complaints . well done to Witton for a great effort.:clap
Fantastic game!!! Chester had physically bigger and stronger players but they don’t have our heart, strong will, commitment and passion!!! The hardest working team I have ever seen at Wincham park. Roberts didn’t have a thing to do and their keeper voted man of the match on the Chester forum says it all. I didn’t want to single one person out because the whole team were brilliant but…One final word for Prince Haywood who put in the performance of the season
Another great display by the Albion We must have had 65-70% possession against a huge physically dominant Chester side ranked 3 leagues higher but, we had energy, ability and the will to dominate most of the game today, but for our lack of finishing we would have won easily and well played Chester keeper for keeping them in it.
On to the replay now at Chester and do you know what ! We can play even better than that, 2-3 of our lads were not at their best today maybe a bit nervous out there, and I have to agree MOM Prince Haywood for sure. Tough ask for Tuesday but these lads never let you down. UTA
PROUD. The only word to describe how I feel about supporting this team.
WHS
It shows what a quality team we have when we are more than matching a Conference club three leagues higher than us!! Every one of the players were outstanding yet again and we were unlucky not to nick it, it looked like Chester were quite relieved to get away from WP still in the trophy. With this team its always difficult to nominate a MOM but for me Prince Haywood was everywhere today and was absolutely superb.
On to Tuesday, I don’t expect us to win but I have to say it wouldn’t surprise me with this lot! Very proud Wittoner tonight. UTA
[quote=“WHS” post=67858]PROUD. The only word to describe how I feel about supporting this team.
WHS[/quote]
Spot on. UTA
As a Chester Fan I have to admit today I was surprised at how good you were today - excellent in fact you had real energy an drive - I was particularly impressed with your no 6 Haywood a cracking little player - you deserved to win - yes we were poor because you made us look poor - best of luck for the rest of the season - a lovely ground and a solid non league outfit
Make no qualms about it, this current team is most definitely the pride of Northwivh and a team which each and every supporter should be proud of. Today they made a team 3 divisions above look very ordinary and were unlucky not to run out winners. They fear no one and there is absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t win the replay. There was some new blood on the terraces today and they must surely have been impressed. UTA
Went today expecting a win for Chester as surely their class would show through, was quite wrong as I often am. Should have won with better finishing. Looked on Deva Chat and one poster on there reckoned the ref was a homer, how many on here would agree with that? All about opinions I suppose. They were very impressed with Prince today , at least they got that one right. Must single out another player in Matty Devine, probably the best left back/winger I’ve seen here. Had Richards in his pocket all afternoon, until he surrendered and got himself sent off. How embarassing for the poor chap, obviously thought he was a much better player than he actually was. Nice to see a crowd for a change even if most of it was borrowed from Chester. Really loving this season so far thanks to the team, management and fans. Being naturally pessimistic as far as Witton are concerned due to past experiences I just hope we keep going onward and upwards for a change.
Many Wittoners I know have a lot of respect for Chester FC and the long term relationship with us, it is great to seeing you doing so well again. Hope you enjoyed it at WP today, we look forward to the replay and coming to Chester on Tuesday! Might get some Christmas shopping done (maybe not!!)
In the past I’ve only posted on here to explain decisions and whys and wherefores on how we came to them . I’m no longer involved in making those decisions, but I’m so proud to be Wittoner tonight . Wow !! Amazing what can happen in 12 months .
And you should be proud of your team and Club they have done amazing this season games in hand you could win the league and with that team can’t see many teams coming close to you - I have watched football long enough to know a good team when I see one - to be honest I would sign up a number of your players for Chester if I could - What I like about Witton is your proper football club model - for example you could have charged me car parking today and I wouldn’t have minded but as a club you stay true to decency- enjoy your trip to the Deva on Tuesday and again best wishes to your promotion push - Fred
Thanks for that, although I suspect the replay may be a different case as Chester perhaps will rise to the challenge and not expect to win !
look forward to seeing you at the game UTA