Danny Hudson had the first shot at goal for Halifax in the second minute after some good work down the left hand side from Sean McAuley. His shot was weak though and straight at McCAldon.

In a repeat move two minutes later again it was McAuley on the left who put the cross in.  It was cleared only to Hudson, this time his shot was deflected for a corner.  The corner was cleared easily away from danger.

Chester's first real chance came in the ninth minute when Foster had a shot at goal from an acute angle on the left after some good play with Twiss from midfield. The shot however did not really trouble Parry in the Halifax goal.

In the 11th minute Smith played a good free kick into the box from the right hand channel. Stamp rushed on to it for one of his trademark headers but the keeper made a good save.

In the 12th minute Halifax took the lead. The goal came from Lewis Killeen from about 20 yards out straight in front of goal after receiving the ball from Sean McAuley.  The sleepy Blues can have little complaint with this after a slow start allowing Halifax much of the early possession and loads of room down the left flank.

Jonny Allan came close for Halifax in the 18th minute, bearing down on the goal only for Ruffer to get in a tackle and concede a corner, the first of a brace.  Both of them were dealt with efficiently with McCaldon punching the first one over and a Danny Colllins header clearing the second one upfield.

Chester got a quick equaliser in the 20th minute.  It came from an Alex Smith corner, which was cleared back out to him and at the second time of asking he found Phill Bolland on the end of his cross to head home from close range.

As the stand finally came to life, Twiss was awarded a free kick in the 25th after making a good run down the left. The kick was taken by Alex Smith who play a high curling ball over the wall but it fell straight into the arms of Craig Parry.

Carl Ruffer was booked in the 28th minute after a foul on Jonny Allan. This was controversial on two counts, he was the last man and could have been given a red for it, but in fairness it looked like a good tackle in the first place.

In the 30th minute Stamp played a good ball across the goal from near the corner flag but it was just out of reach of Foster. It would have been an almost certain goal had he got on the end of it.

Chester had a good opportunity to take the lead in the 38th minute after Stamp and Carey had made a good move down the left.  The ball fell to Foster with the goalkeeper well off his line.  Foster went for the lob but the ball came down on top of the netting.

Into the second half and Carl Regan received a good long diagonal ball , breaking the offside trap, and in turn played a good ball in towards Stamp inside the area. However the Halifax defence managed to regroup in time and the ball was cleared away from danger.

Once again though Halifax had most of the possession in the early stages of the half, but were not able to make anything from it. Michael Senior blasted the ball over from 25 yards in the 57th minute.

Ben Davies came on in place of Sean Carey moments later and this saw the start of a good spell for Chester.  Phil Bolland nearly got his second of the game on the hour mark with a header from 25 yards but he was just off target.

Michael Twiss made a good run for the blues down the left channel in the 68th minute.  His diagonal shot went just wide of the right hand post with Stamp unable to get to it in time to redirect it into the net.

Chester won a corner in the 70th minute after sustained pressure from Twiss, Foster and many others. Before the corner could be taken Chester made their second substitution with Rapley coming on for Darryn Stamp.  The corner was played to the far post by Ben Davies but it was cleared away.

In the 74th it was Halifax who had a chance after Sagare and McAuley had created an opening down the left but Sagare blasted his shot over the bar.

Kevin Rapley nearly put the Blues into the lead on 78 minutes but his shot took a deflection which put it just past the right hand post.  A minute later Ben Davies fired a rocket of a shot in towards the goal from about 30 yards out, forcing an excellent save from the keeper who could only manage to deflect it for a corner.

Davies took the corner to the far post where it was headed down by Danny Collins but straight into the arms of the goalkeeper. The game was getting stale at this point and talk in the stands was turning to the potential replay at the Shay, prematurely as it turned out.

Halifax took the lead in the 82nd minute through a well placed header by substitute Andy Farrell.  This came indirectly from a corner which Chester failed to clear and as the ball came high into the area Farrell ran on to it to head home from 10 yards with McCaldon stranded.

Rather than come out fighting, the game fizzled out at this point and so another early cup exit for the Blues. Look's like we are concentrating on the league.