Chester FC 3 Alfreton Town 2

There may not have been much quality on display but there was plenty of excitement in this thriller. A perfect example of why non-league football is such great entertainment.

Alfreton's centre forward is Matt Rhead and anyone who know non-league football (just sgwarnog I guess) will know the name. Its fair to say he is slightly overweight and getting on for a footballer. Today he put in a typical performance which involved telling the referee how to do his job, falling to the ground clutching his head at every opportunity and committing a string of off the ball fouls. Suffice to say he was incredibly annoying. 

Chester scored in the first half without playing particularly well but the game took off in the last 20 minutes. First of all Danny Livesey was sent off for Chester and then somewhat inevitably Rhead equalised which he celebrated enthusiastically in front of the Chester supporters. However Dec Weeks put Chester back in front almost  immediately, cue wild scenes. It was at this point one of the Chester managers was sent off for "having a discussion" with Rhead.

The game took a turn for the worse in the 88th minute when Rhead equalised again with predictable reaction from Chester supporters. However, 2 minutes into injury time 10 man Chester scored the winner with a header from defender Dan Cowan and the celebrations went into overdrive. After such a dodgy start to the season this was the perfect way to get a first win. 

As well as congratulating the players as they came off the field many stayed behind to wish Matt Rhead the best of luck for the rest of the season (or something like that)

Chester are away to Chorley next week. They won 9-0 today.
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Lands End to John O'Groats 1000 Mile Virtual Challenge Update

Day 208  -  Highlands 2.2 miles walked  837.7 miles completed


Today's short walk along the A9 finished just outside Newtonmore.