This was an agonising defeat for Consett in a game they really should have got something from, but they were beaten by a late fluke goal, a cross come shot from Andison with seven minutes to go.
Manager Colin Carr had to make one change from the win over Whitley Bay with Andrew Thompson replacing the working Darren Grimes. But they were soon forced to make a further change when Neil Lowdon had to go off after only eight minutes after being on the wrong end of two nasty challenges by firstly Turner and then Errington as Chester started the game in an overly aggressive manner. The unlucky Lowdon was replaced by Alan Batey.
Consett kicked down the slope in the opening half but it was the home side who went close after 13 minutes. Bowes dispossessed Rod Butler and homed in on goal but he shot wide as keeper James Platten came out to narrow the angle. After 26 minutes Consett skipper Jeff Sugden headed just wide from Mark Lee’s corner.
Seven minutes before the interval Chester almost took the lead when a loose ball fell to Sowerby but Platten made an excellent block from point blank range. At the other end Lee’s free-kick from the left again found the head of Sugden but the Consett defender couldn’t control his effort as it went just over the top from almost under the bar.
Half Time: Chester 0-0 Consett
The Steelmen took the lead ten minutes after the interval. Gareth McKenna’s cross caused a bit of a melee in the box with both Lee Suddes and Chris Hodgson having close range efforts blocked before Alan Batey fired in from 10 yards.
Consett almost doubled their lead when Colin McLeod played the ball into Hodgson but he scuffed his shot. The Steelmen looked comfortable at this stage of the game but they were pegged back when they conceded a soft goal after 74 minutes. A free-kick was headed out by Sugden but Bowes headed the ball back in from the edge of the area and with Platten off his line, having come for the initial cross, the ball dropped into the unguarded net.
Chester gained the ascendancy from this point on and they almost scored again two minutes later when Sowerby’s curler hit the bar with Platten beaten. Another two minutes on and Platten did well to block at the feet of Errington. Consett went straight up the other end with Hodgson going on a good run, but when he cut the ball back from the by-line there was no-one there to get the final touch.
The killer goal came in the 83rd minute. Andison’s cross (for surely that’s what it was) curled into the top corner of the net, out of the reach of Platten who couldn’t be faulted as he was given no chance by the unkind flight of the ball. Colin Carr threw on Tony Halliday for the last five minutes in a desperate attempt to get something from the game but it was not to be.
Full Time: Chester 2-1 Consett
