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| Barnet
0-0 Chester City |
20.03.2004 |
Chester’s six-game winning run came to an end at
Underhill, as Mark Wright’s men drew their first match
since the first home encounter of the year. That day, City
surrendered a two-goal lead at home to Gravesend,
finishing the game with a solitary point.
But the trip to Barnet was always going to be a much
tougher encounter, given the Bees’ solid home form, just
three home reverses all season, and their current
play-off position.
With three of the Nationwide Conference’s leading
marksmen featuring, City’s Daryl Clare and Barnet’s
Guiliano Grazioli leading the charts with 23 each and
Darryn Stamp having netted 19, you could be forgiven for
feeling surprised with the goalless outcome – Chester’s
first game without scoring since the stalemate with
Hereford way back in October.
However, the wild, swirling winds caused havoc for both
sets of players, as both defences remained strong and
difficult to break down. Of the few opportunities that
did arise, poor finishing proved costly.
With the blizzard conditions and constant stream of
stoppages from referee Mr. Jarnail Singh making for a
scrappy start to the game, the first clear-cut
opportunity arrived courtesy of Alex Smith, but he fired
his long-range effort over the bar. Grazioli then saw his
effort deflect behind following good wing-play by Ben
Strevens for the hosts.
The first half was littered with free-kicks, the majority
of which were called against City and for innocuous
fouls. Mark Wright was left fuming with Mr. Singh, after
seeing Alex Smith, Phil Bolland and Kevin McIntyre all
cautioned inside the first half-hour. They were to be the
only cards dished out during the afternoon.
The one that did get away must have angered Wright even
more. Jamie Heard was caught by a late, thigh-high tackle
mid-way through the first half, leaving him with a large
gash. Unbelievably, not even a free-kick was awarded and
the youngster’s assassin escaped. Heard continued for a
couple of minutes before being replaced by Chris Lane,
who made his first appearance in Chester colours.
And it was Lane who had the ball in the net on 37
minutes, only for his powerful, well-placed effort to be
ruled out by a late offside flag, following nifty
footwork from Darryn Stamp on the counter-attack to set
him up.
But City’s best chance came right on half time when an
unmarked Stamp blazed over an open goal from the six-yard
box. That miss was to prove costly, as City didn’t come
much closer.
Smith then drove across the goal and Stamp scuffed a shot
from the edge of the box, after a pass from Danny
Williams. Barnet slowly started to take control of the
match, and saw their closest paths to goal soon after the
restart. First, Grazioli volleyed just wide from Ian
Hendon’s delivery, before Iain Turner, who hadn’t been
tested bar the routine cross catching, was called into
action, saving Liam Hatch’s weak effort low down,
Hendon’s free-kick deflected into his path.
The introduction of Michael Twiss, replacing a
disappointed Smith who had just started to get into his
stride, was made in an attempt to bolster the visitors’
attacking options for the last half-hour.
But it was Daryl Clare who spurned the best chance of
City’s half shortly after. Played in by an exquisite Lane
pass, the former Boston man fired disappointingly across
the face of goal with Stamp and Twiss racing towards goal
unmarked.
But Chester were perhaps fortunate not to go behind
themselves, as Strevens fired just over from 25 yards and
was then denied by a superb save from Turner low-down.
The end-to-end action continued as Clare found himself
one-on-one with Bankole in the Barnet goal, who charged
him down, and stayed down due to a resulting injury.
Twiss could have won the game late on for Chester, but he
was first denied by a Danny Maddix lunge, and later
drilled a low shot wide of the far post. Mark Wright’s
final throw of the dice was to replace Clare with Kevin
Rapley in the dying minutes, but to no avail.
A draw was perhaps a fair result, as strong defences made
it difficult for many clear-cut openings – the hazardous
blustery conditions not helping either, but City, and
their travelling 500+ supporters, will be disappointed
with not winning a seventh consecutive game, after the
amount of guilt-edged chances that were missed.
The Blues now lie just three points clear of Hereford at
the top of the table, though with a game in hand.
Barnet: Bankole, Hendon, Redmile, Maddix, King,
Gamble, Yakubu (M. Williams 82), Clist, Strevens,
Grazioli, Hatch. Subs Not Used: Gore, Plummer, Taggart,
Pearson.
Chester City: Turner, Guyett, Bolland, Collins,
Heard (Lane 24), D.Williams, Carden, Smith (Twiss 61),
McIntyre, Clare (Rapley 89), Stamp. Subs Not Used: Woods,
Davies.
Referee: Mr. J. Singh (Hounslow)
Attendance: 2,455
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| Full Time:
Barnet 0-0 Chester City |
| Deva TXT Alert |
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Chester: Turner, Collins Bolland Guyett, McIntyre Smith
Carden Williams Heard, Clare Stamp. Subs: Twiss Lane
Rapley Woods(gk) Davies. C'mon Blues! |
| Deva TXT Alert |
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26 Sub: Lane on for Heard. Scrappy game so far, City
playing up slope in 1st half. |
| Deva TXT Alert |
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HT Barnet 0-0 Chester. Barnet slightly dominating scappy
1st half. Stamp hits it wide from 6yds in 1st half added
time being City's best chance. |
| Deva TXT Alert |
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60 Sub: Twiss on for Smith |
| Deva TXT Alert |
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88 Sub: Rapley on for Clare. |
| Deva TXT Alert |
FT Barnet 0-0 Chester. Citys best chance on 66 for Clare
who shot wide of goalie. Average City performance MOM.
Williams Att: 2455
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