Chester lined up against a Scarborough side that included Jimmy Kelly and Mark Quayle in the starting lineup.

The game opened with a brace of yellow cards in the first five minutes.  First Ruffer was booked in the second minute for a late tackle.  Two minutes later and former Chester City player Jimmy Kelly also ended up in the ref's notebook for a bad challenge on Daryl Clare who required treatment as a result.

The first real attack of the game came in the tenth minute with the first corner of the game, which went to Scarborough.  Jimmy Kelly played it short to the near post where it was cleared initially by Carl Ruffer, only for Scarborough to win back possession and feed it out to Mark Quayle on the right.  His shot at goal took a deflection off another Scarborough player who was judged to be offside.

Chester were quick to respond with a corner of their own in the 14th minute which was played to the far post by Kevin McIntyre.  Carl Ruffer headed it down into the danger area but it was quickly cleared away by the Scarborough defence.

Chester's best chance in the opening period came in the 22nd minute when a Danny Collins free kick reached Carl Ruffer.  He played the ball on to Jon Brady who shot a few foot wide past the left hand upright.

Scarborough were quick to respond a minute later when Scott Kerr volleyed wide past the right hand post.  A few minutes later and they also had a good solo effort from Clint Marcelle down the left hand channel, who jinked his way past Carl Ruffer but then could only shoot way over the crossbar.

The game was livening up at this point and just before the half hour mark Sean Carey played a good ball from the right into Daryl Clare.  He played the ball across the box to the head of Darryn Stamp but his header was just over the crossbar.

After some decent moves forward Chester got their reward in the 34th minute from a Danny Collins free kick.  Daryl Clare received the ball and jinked his way through the midfield and had a crack at goal which was parried away by Walker.  Darryn Stamp then had the easiest task to knock the ball home to give Chester the lead.

Chester made it 2 a few minutes later when Darry Stamp was fouled in the area whilst attempting to get on the end of a Ben Davies corner.  Daryl Clare stepped up and slotted the penalty home into the bottom left hand corner of the goal, and was then booked for over celebrating.

Scarborough could have got one back shortly before the break when a Baker cross gave Mark Quayle a header at goal which was saved right on the line by McCaldon.

Chester were almost three goal up right on 45 minutes when Brady ran across midfield to collect a long ball down the left from Stamp.  He played it back across the box to Daryl Clare whose shot was only just punched past the left hand post by Walker in the Scarborough goal.

Deep in first half injury time Kevin McIntyre played a ball straight across the face of goal which was missed by Stamp and Davies before going out for a corner. So Chester went in at half time with a deserved 2-0 lead after some confident attacking football in the final 20 minutes of the half.

Scarborough were back in the game three minutes after the break after a penalty was awarded when Phil Bolland was judged to have pushed Mark Quayle inside the penalty area.  It was Quayle himself who stepped forwards to take the penalty which he placed confidently into the top left hand corner of the net to bring Scarborough's deficit back to one goal.

Things got much worse for Chester a few minutes later when Paul Carden was dismissed for a second yellow after bringing down Scott Kerr who required treatment after the late challenge.

Scarborough kept up the momentum they were building in the second half and Ashley Sestanovic made a good break through midfield in the 57th.  His final shot though was straight at McCaldon who caught it easily.

Jon Brady made a good run down the right on the hour mark and won a corner for his efforts.  McIntyre played it to the far post where it was cleared away from danger.

Chester then made a tactical substitution replacing Stamp with Scott Guyett to defend their goal lead.  However a corner had already been awarded to Scarborough before the substitution took place and it was from this corner that Scarborough were to equalise. After a goalmouth scramble, Clint Marcelle knocked the ball home from close range to the delight of the Scarborough fans behind the goal.

Chester cooled the game down over the next ten minutes with long stoppages. Daryl Clare then had an excellent shot at goal in the 75th minute which forced a great save from Leigh Walker in the Scarborough goal.

In the 78th another tactical substitution was made by Chester in an effort to hold out for a point as Twiss replaced Clare.  Scarborough could have wrapped the game up in the 81st minute but Mark Quayle stumbled in front of the goal when scoring looked the easier option.

Scarborough kept up the pressure with another shot going in on the 87th minute from Sestanovic which was saved low by McCladon. However another goal never looked likely and so it finished a rather disappointing 2-2 draw, with the sending off of Paul Carden the turning point of the game.

Deva TXT man of the match award goes to Jon Brady for a good performance on his return to the first team.