Youth Report - Accrington Stanley

Youth Victory

Chester City started the season with a convincing away victory against Accrington Stanley.

The game started with Chester pushing forward and causing the Accrington defence problems throughout and it was no surprise when City took the lead on 14 minutes with a goal from Paul Mcmanus who put the ball into the net after a Jay Gregory shot was parried out by the Accrington keeper.

After the first goal went in Chester settled into an attacking mode that kept the Accrington defence stretched and following a wide free kick from Neil Carroll, Jack Rowlands was on hand to steer the ball into the net after the keeper had failed to collect to cross.

Despite enjoying the majority of possession Chester failed to add to their tally and paid the price of casual play in the centre of the field, with Accrington winning and scoring from a free kick on the edge of the box just before half time.

Half Time: 1 - 2

The second half saw Chester continue with their attacking play and the Accrington defence holding firm, however, after a swift break through the centre of the park Jay Gregory was bought down in the box and Sean Newton promptly dispatched the spot kick to increase Chester's lead.

Five minutes later saw an Accrington defender dismissed for a moment of madness in which he kicked out at Chester skipper Kevin Roberts in front of the referee, who was left with no option.

The remaining 20 minutes saw Chester camped in the Accrington half and it was down to poor decision making in the last third of the pitch that allowed Accrington to escape with only one goal against them, scored by Neil Carroll.

At the final whistle, the scoreline of 4 - 1 flattered Accrington and the Chester players were left in no doubt as the the feelings of the coaching staff, however, this was City's first opening match win for some years and sometimes the points are of more value.

Overall, a good result to open the season with and the watching Wigan staff will have made a few notes ready for the match against Chester City U18's on Saturday.

WIGAN PREVIEW:

We played Wigan 3 times last season and lost each time.

On paper, the fact that they are a Premiership club and we are in League 2 suggests that we should be an easy touch for them, however,

I'm sure that the Wigan coaches will remember our games from last season and how close the two league games were. It's always good for our players to play against players from Premiership and Championship clubs and we are looking forward to hosting Wigan on Saturday.

1. Craig Vernon, 2. Brett Robson, 3. Sean Newton, 4. Jack Rowlands, 5. Kevin Roberts (c), 6. Glenn Rule, 7. Neil Carroll, 8. Jay Gregory, 9. Steven Thorpe, 10. Jordan Barnes, 11. Paul McManus, 12. Shaun Kelly, 13. James Owen, 14. Giovanni Feliciello, 15. Andy Mitchell, 16. Keiren Morrin

Score: Accrington Stanley 1 - 4 Chester City

Chester Goal Scorers: Paul McManus, Jack Rowlands, Sean Newton, Neil Carroll