In the fourth minute a Kevin McIntyre corner came inswinging towards the far goalpost where it was met by Darryn Stamp whose header was a couple of foot wide past the post.  Then in the ninth minute a Kevin McIntyre free kick in the right hand channel found Danny Collins in the goalmouth area but he headed just wide of the right hand post.

In the fifteenth minute Ian Foster made a good run down the left hand channel. His cross into the box was cleared by Telford only as far as Ben Davies who volleyed through the melee, but his shot was well saved by the Chris MacKenzie in the Telford goal.

In the 21st McIntyre was brought down whilst making a breakaway run from midfield about 10 yards outside the box.  Brady took the free kick which was a low drive around the defensive wall and as the goalkeeper dived the shot just went past the near side post.

Telford's first real chance came in the 28th minute when Tony Naylor tried to perform an acrobatic overhead kick whilst receiving the ball from the right hand channel, but fortunately he didn't connect and the ball completed it's journey across goal without danger.

There was a good piece of individual play from Paul Carden in the 34th when he jinked through the centre of the field, creating a half chance for himself but his shot was easily saved by the Telford keeper.

Shortly afterwards it was Jon Brady's turn to take a corner at the near side but his shot was too close to the keeper who caught it without trouble.

In the 39th minute a McIntyre cross looked to be going out but came down right by the far post still in play and was parried out quickly by MacKenzie.  The resultant corner again from McIntyre was once again easily collected by the Telford goalkeeper.

At the the other end almost immediately Sam Ricketts had a good shot at goal after beating a few defenders but Wayne Brown was well placed to block and save his low shot.

Just before the break Telford were reduced to ten men when Richard Lavery was given a straight red for a two footed challenge on Kevin McIntyre.  Kevin required treatment which resulted in 3 minutes of first half injury time being played.  Still goalless then at half time but the blues in the driving seat with Telford given little opportunity to break forward.

The first fifteen minutes of the second half were a reasonably quiet affair with Chester unable to make the extra man count and no real chances at either end. Then on the hour mark Chester won another corner when Paul Carden's shot was put behind. Brady's corner came in and was cleared initially by Telford but only to Ben Davies but he shot well over the bar.

Telford seemed to be happy at this point to get every man behind the ball and hope for a draw. However Carden then had a great chance to open the scoring when he drove a powerful shot goalwards which was deflected for a corner.

Brady was replaced by Michael Twiss in the 69th. Then in the 74th minute came the substitution the Chester faithful had waited all season to see.  In a double substitution Rapley replaced Stamp and Darryl Clare replaced Foster to rapturous applause to reshape the Chester front line.

However despite sustained pressure pushing forwards in the final fifteen minutes the blues couldn't make the man advantage count as Telford continued to get every man behind the ball to play for the point.  Daryl Clare did get a couple of shots in but not on target and the best chance was probably a Ben Davies free kick in the 78th.

So a disappointing result as Chester fail to capitalise on the one man advantage.  The problem in the final 15 seemed to be the absence of Darryn Stamp as there was no aerial supremacy in the box from that point and high crosses were easily dealt with by the Telford defence. Man of the match goes to Paul Carden who created some superb chances both for himself and others and was solid as a rock in the centre of the field.

The good news is that Hereford also finished with a 3-3 draw at Gravesend today so there is no fundamental change at the top of the table.