Against the run of play however it was Boro who nearly opened their account with 7 minutes played when a poor passback from Hatswell left Brown with a difficult clearance which fortunately he dealt with well kicking the ball out for a throw in.

5 minutes later and Chester had the chance to open the scoring from a McIntyre header which was headed just over by Carl Ruffer.

Chester won the ball from the goal kick and came straight back upfield with it. A goalmouth scramble took place which saw Rob Gill with a good scoring chance from close range but the ball was taken from him by an alert Boro defence.

Two minutes later and a Ben Davies corner was cleared by Boro only to be knocked back in by Carden and a header from Danny Collins came down frustratingly on top of the net having gone just over.

This was a good start from City but Boro were not going to let them have it all their own way and slowly worked their way back into the game. They won two corners in quick succession on 28 minutes the second of which resulted in another goalmouth scramble eventually cleared by Danny Collins but not before Watson and Carroll both had chances for Boro.

Boro dominated this spell of the game and Ruffer was called into play on 37 making two good clearances from Boro throw ins on the far side of the pitch.

Chester came back into the game just before half time and on 40 minutes a McIntyre free kick whizzed into the goalmouth area. Andy Harris got a touch but the ball went wide left for a goal kick.

Chester started well in the second half and it wasn't long before they had another corner in front of about 350 blues supporters who must have been thankful for the shade of the stand as he mercury hit 36C.  McIntyre's corner was headed on target by Collins and just as the fans behind the goal were ready to celebrate the opener it was somehow cleared off the line.

It was Boro who were next with a good opportunity on 57 when a Cook cross was met by Watson who shot just over.

Harris came close for Chester on 68 minutes when a McIntyre throw-in on the left was quickly fed through to him on the right hand edge of the box but his powerful shot slammed past the right hand upright.

The game by this point had 0-0 written all over it with both teams having to take things at an easy pace in the blistering heat.  Subs followed on 70 with Baptiste coming on for Elding for Boro and Chester replaced their entire front line with Gill and Rapley being replaced by Foster and Beesley.

The pace of the game was slowing right down now and things began happening for both sides on the break.  On 79 Steve Watson stole the ball for Boro and nearly scored.  Immediately Beesley broke clear down the right but his cross into the box was poor and went behind for a goal kick.

Chesters last throw of the dice was on 85 when a Harris shot at goal was deflected by Foster who was left holding his head in his hands inside the box as the ball went behind for a goal kick.

Inevitably Chester almost threw it away in injury time and indeed Battersby put the ball in the net for Boro.  However the goal was disallowed as apparently the ref had already awared Boro a free kick on the edge of the box which caused no danger for Chester and with some relief the final whistle blew for full time and a share of the points.

A difficult day for football as the heat and humidity were overbearing even in the shade in the stands but both teams lasted the pace well. Collins Ruffer and Hatswell looked to have a good understanding of each other at the back and Collins gets my man of the match vote for this and his commitment to the cause in general throughout the game.