Blyth saw a lot of early possession and won their first corner in the third minute of the game.  It was played short to Richardson at the corner flag before being cleared without going anywhere near the box.

In the eighth minute again it was Blyth pushing forwards and Williams forced a low save from Ian McCaldon from 18 yards but Ian was well placed to scoop up what was a fairly weak shot.

Blyth had a second corner in the 9th minute which was parried away by McCaldon initially before coming back in for a clearance from Danny Collins.  Was this a ploy to let Blyth tire themselves out early by giving them all the early running?  It certainly looked that way.

After a decent start by the home side they nearly gifted the lead to Chester in the 11th minute when Forster attempted a backpass to his keeper which fell well short allowing Ian Foster to steal possession.  Unfortunately he was at an acute angle to goal and his shot found the side netting.

Ben Davies was next to try his luck making a good run unchallenged down the left channel only to see his shot well blocked by Craig Turns in goal for Blyth.

The sun finally came out to take the chill out of the wind but the game descended into a slow midfield stalemate for about the next 10 minutes.

Blyth again came close in the 28th minute and were only denied by a last minute tackle by Phil Bolland. 

A minute later Chris Joyce had the home fans celebrating as his header went goalbound but Ian McCaldon pulled out a top drawer save to keep the match goalless.

Chester made a good run down the left courtesy of Ian Foster in the 33rd after a good ball from Ben Davies in the Chester half.  As Blyth struggled to regroup defensively Foster shot at goal himself but the ball went straight to Craig Turns.

As Chester continued to play at Blyth's pace it was with some relief then when the blues took the lead just before the break.  Darryn Stamp played a good flick on to Daryl Clare down the left and Daryl scored his first goal of the season for Chester with a low shot drilled home from the edge of the area.

So Chester went in at half time with an undeserved lead.  Blyth always looked likely to struggle against the well marshalled Chester defence but they did come close on a couple of occasions.

Blyth again started brightly in the second half. They had half a chance to equalise in the 49th minute when Anthony Woodhouse hit a powerful shot towards the goal forcing a good save from McCaldon.

The game continued in the same vein as the first half with Chester looking happy to defend Blyth attacks and go for goal themselves on the break. It wasn't until the hour mark that Chester had another shot at goal when Shaun Carey had a powerful shot at goal which went just over the crossbar.

Blyth continued to press but Chester were soaking everything up well at the back.

Darryn Stamp could have finished the game off in the 81st minute with a trademark header from a Brady cross but he was just over the crossbar.

So not a vintage performance but at the same time everyone came through unscathed and probably without breaking into a sweat. Chester got the result they came for. Full time 1-0.  Deva TXT Man of the Match award goes to Ben Davies.