Craig Stanley gave Andy Woods a real taste of Conference first team football as early as the second minute with a low shot towards the bottom left hand corner of goal.  To his credit, Woods made the save look easier than it probably was coming from nothing so early in the game.

At the other end Jamie Heard hit a cracking shot at goal from at least 25 yards out on the right hand side. With power behind it it came ricocheting back off the right hand upright after possibly a last minute touch by Martin Taylor in the Telford goal.

In the tenth Kevin McIntyre had the opportunity to impress with one of his 25 yard trademark free kicks. He managed to get the ball around the defensive wall and on target but found Martin Taylor well positioned to cover the angle and save with ease.

Woods was again tested in the 14th after a mistake by Heard had let Telford through but the shot was parried away to safety as Woods continued to look comfortable on his first team debut.

In the 22nd minute Daryl Clare had the ball in the net for the blues but was ruled to have been in an offside position.

This setback for Chester seemed to give Telford some added incentive to push forwards again.  Just after the half hour mark Matt Clarke made an excellent run and beat Danny Collins but ended up shooting weakly at goal and gave Woods no problem with the save.

Michael Blackwood also had a chance a few minutes later with 38 minutes on the clock but his shot was straight at Woods and again gave the keeper no real problem.

With half time approaching, Kevin McIntyre made a good interception to thwart another Telford attack.

So overall a fairly even first half with Chester starting stronger but Telford coming into the game more and more as the half progressed.  This must have given Mark Wright some food for thought and it was little surprise then when the teams came back out that the blues made a half time substitution. Once again it was super sub Michael Twiss coming on to replace Alex Smith, to try and give the blues more attacking options as they attacked the away end in the second half.

It was Twiss who had the first real chance of the second half, hitting the side netting from the left hand channel four minutes after the restart.

Chester continued to press forwards and had two corners in fairly quick succession.  The first by Kevin McIntyre curled out of play for a goal kick at the far post.  The second a few minutes later was cleared away efficiently by the Telford defence.

The blues were making all the play at this point and McIntyre again had a free kick chance just before the hour mark which sailed over the crossbar from about 25 yards out.

Again it was McIntyre a few minutes later with a long range shot to nothing from over 30 yards out. It was fired goalwards like a rocket and brought out a tremendous save from Martin Taylor who just managed to tip it on to the crossbar where it went out of play for a corner.

In the 68th minute Daryl Clare made an excellent run which was intercepted by a great tackle from Anwar Uddin who conceded another corner in the process.  This was saved by the keeper but only after a bit of a scramble in front of the Telford goal.

In a rare second half attack from Telford, Craig Stanley came close with his shot only just deflected to trundle anxiously past the left hand upright for a corner.

Chester won another corner in the 75th minute which Heard played from the left hand corner flag to the back post. It was cleared away but only weakly to Phil Bolland who played it straight back in towards Sean Carey.  Carey went for the ball but was brought down by an attempted tackle from behind, and the referee, who was close by, had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Daryl Clare stepped up to take the spot kick and knocked it comfortably home into the bottom right hand corner of the net to give the blues the goal they had been threatening for most of the second half.

There was a scare at the other end just before the end but the blues made certain of the points in the final minute of normal time with a stunning goal.

With play in the Chester half of the pitch Daryl Clare received the ball near the centre circle and released Jamie Heard with it. He made a superb run down the right hand side of the pitch, beating two defenders before playing a perfect cross from the right back in to Daryl Clare who had made his own run down the centre.  Daryl made a good headed contact with the ball to send it unstoppably into the back of the net to send the blues fans behind the goal ecstatic.

So a thoroughly deserved win for the blues on their second half performance in front of a bumper 3503 crowd at the New Bucks Head , the highest Conference attendance there this season.  Deva TXT man of the match goes to Danny Collins.