Ian McCaldon was the first of the two keepers to be called into action in the second minute when he scooped up a long range shot from Devlin.

There was action at both ends in the ninth minute when first a Northwich throw in found it's way quickly into the box forcing a high punched clearance from McCaldon.  Chester took the ball quickly upfield and set John Brady clear but his shot was parried by Andy Woods in the Northwich goal before he collected it safely.

A good chance for Chester came in the fourteenth minute when Foster made a long run down the left after being released from midfield.  He played the ball into the box looking for Stamp at the far post but the keeper just got a touch to thwart their efforts.

Carl Ruffer made a great tackle in the 32nd to prevent any danger as Johnny Allan made a breakaway run down the right hand side. A minute later and in a goalmouth scramble in the Chester box a number of Northwich players including Chris Blackburn could have given Northwich the lead before the ball was eventually cleared to safety.

The referee was making a lot of controversial decisions at this point of the game to the derision of the Chester fans.

A quiet game suddenly burst into life 3 minutes from half time with a great goal from Danny Collins.  He received the ball quickly from McIntyre and blasted home from close range giving Andy Woods no chance.

Chester kept piling on the pressure before the break and in the 45th an inswinging Brady corner was only just scrambled to safety at the far post for a second corner. McIntyre's second corner was parried away but the ball was played quickly back into the Northwich goal area and Darryn Stamp was there with a shot but it went wide of the post.  So the first half ended with Chester nabbing a 1-0 lead just before the break.

Into the second half then and the blues increased their lead in the 50th. Stamp received  the ball in the middle of the field and made a good run down the right hand channel before playing a delightful ball through the last two defenders to Paul Carden who slotted the ball home from 6 yards out.

Chester kept the pressure up and in the 54th were awarded a corner after Ben Davies had made a solo run down the right.  McIntyre's corner missed everyone though as it was played high across goal.

Northwich were awarded a controversial free kick in front of goal on the hour mark. Barnard's shot got through the wall but McCaldon was on hand to make a great save to keep Chester's two goal advantage intact.

They had an even better chance to get back into the game a few moments later when Devlin created his own chance from midfield but blasted wide right when it looked easier to score.

After five minutes of sustained pressure from Northwich it was Chester who increased their lead in the 66th minute.  McIntyre played a good ball through to Ian Foster who knocked it home at an angle from ten yards to open his scoring account for the blues.

Chester made a double substitution on 70 minutes when Twiss replaced Foster and Rapley replaced Brady.

In the 75th Chester had another corner which was played short to Ben Davies. His cross was met at the far post by Darryn Stamp but Andy Woods was on hand to collect his header.

The game looked to be heading to a conclusion at this point until a buzz went round the Deva with news that Telford had equalised against Hereford, a result which had it stood would have put the blues on top of the league.  However it was enough to squeeze one extra goal from the blues and it was Kevin Rapley who slotted it home with a 15 yard lob to make it 4-0.

So Chester kept their winning run going with a good second hand performance which was well worth the entrance fee alone.  McCaldon looked comfortable standing in for the flu-stricken Wayne Brown.  With Northwich always looking for a goal in this game the Deva TXT man of the match award goes to Danny Collins for some clinical tackles, scoring the opener and helping McCaldon keep a clean sheet.