The kick-off was delayed 15 minutes due to crowd congestion outside the ground. Indeed the club and police seem to have been caught by surprise by the strength of the Shrews support, reminiscent of our own trip to Blackburn a few seasons ago. Both sets of fans witnessed a great game of football, but for Chester fans especially it was well worth the wait.

There was action straight from the kick-off.  Shrewsbury had half a chance in the first minute when an angled cross came right across the front of goal but Ridler couldn't quite connect with it.

At the other end Foster was unfortunate not to connect with the ball in a goalmouth scramble a few minutes later.  The game really came to life though in the seventh minute when first a good interception by Carden caught Shrewsbury off guard creating a great opportunity for Darryn Stamp to open the scoring, but after beating the keeper his shot went just wide to the right of goal.   At the other end Shrews won a corner and a powerful shot from Aiston was deflected away from goal.

Chester won a corner 15 minutes into the game and as Brady's cross came in it was Wayne Hatswell who rose above the mass of players to get a header in which went over the crossbar.  Two minutes later, another corner and another Hatswell header this time blocked by the Shrews defence.

Both sets of fans were giving great encouragement to the teams in a classic Deva encounter, and the opener was not long in coming.  A free kick from Brady on the left was cleanly headed by Darryn Stamp straight into the back of the net to give Chester a deserved lead. And they kept the pressure up.  It could have been 2 a few minutes later when Foster made a breaking run through the middle of the field and fired in a powerful shot at goal which was punched over the bar by Howie in the Shrewsbury goal.

It was Foster again 10 minutes before the interval with another breakaway run down the left in front of the main stand.  He played a great ball into Jon Brady but he couldn't trap the ball quickly enough to get in a shot and the opportunity was lost for what would have been a certain goal had a shot gone in on target.

A minute later a Brady corner came back out to Bolland who fed it through to Darryn Stamp.  He got in a powerful shot which agonisingly hit the crossbar.

The first half ended with a flourish of yellow cards for both sides which was more indicative of  the determination of the players involved than of premeditated foul play. So Chester went into the interval with a 1-0 lead after a blistering first half, with the prospect of a second half where both teams would be shooting towards their own fans.

Two minutes in and the action continued with a great run down the left by Kevin McIntyre  but Stamp was judged to be offside as the cross came in.

In the 52nd Aiston made a good breaking run through the middle of the field for the Shrews and his efforts were rewarded when he gave the ball to Tolley who knocked it past Wayne Brown for the equaliser. 1-1 and everything still to play for.

Shrewsbury had another corner just before the hour mark which was cleared superbly by Danny Collins. Then on the 64th Shrewsbury were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position in front of goal but after an unconvincing set piece the eventual shot was blokced by the Chester wall.

Chester had a free kick in a similar position a few minutes later.  Bradys cross was cleared only as far as Ben Davies but his shot went behind for a goal kick without causing any real danger. 

An unfortunate moment of comedy occurred on 70 as Stamp received a fantastic ball and found himself alone in the box with only the keeper to beat. Rather than get a shot in though he somehow managed to lose his balance when trying to shoot and ended up ungracefully on the ground after slicing the ball behind for a goal kick.

Chester kept pushing forward and on 74 another free kick from Brady on the right channel missed everyone as it came across goal and was headed into the side netting on the far side of goal by Danny Collins.

Chester won another corner in the 77th after a shot from Foster was put behind by Ridler but the corner itself came to nothing.  Then on 82 a free kick from McIntyre was cleared by a Shrews defender only as far as Ben Davies who played a neat ball to the hard working Darryn Stamp who was outnumbered and easily dispossessed.

Shrewsbury then had half a chance as Watts played a clever header into the box but Wayne was well placed to receive it before there was any real danger.

As a scintillating match then seemed to be heading for a draw it was 2 minutes before the end of normal time when the winner came.  And what a stunner it was.  Kevin McIntyre's free kick was first touched low and hard by Phil Bolland into the bottom left hand corner of the goal giving the Shrews goalkeeper no time at all to react.  Just injury time left then to seal the three points and the five minutes of stoppage time were played out without major incident.

It is hard to pick a man of the match when there were so many superb performances and indeed this was a great synergetic team performance.  It could have gone to almost any player tonight but I've gone for Jon Brady for some great work on the right all night until he was subbed late on.  However tonight was about the overall team effort and if the momentum of tonight's performance can be continued as we travel away to Gravesend and Margate then another six points looks like a real possibility.