Considering the sickening news of a knife attack on several passengers on a train near Huntingdon , it was especially satisfying to see the Act of Remembrance carried out so movingly at the Abbey Stadium yesterday. The silence was observed immaculately. As I stood on the centre circle, the only sound was the song of birds. Both sets of fans were very generous in their recognition of the sacrifice of servicemen and the price they paid for our freedom. It was good to have Chester as guests. When I first started coming to games Chester were in the League and we dreamed of getting there. Now it is the other way around. Would this be our banana skin and their day of glory? A huge number of Chester fans hoped so. We were their big day out and how often have we had that directed at us?! The FA Cup always provides upsets though. Would we be left red faced?
Not even close. After ten minutes Murray-Jones , the Chester keeper seemed indifferent to a swinging cross which the ever dangerous Kouassi forced home. The keeper was to have a very bad day, allowing a second Kouassi shot to pass through his legs. Later he only got one hand to a cross before rolling about theatrically for several minutes. Ben Purrington asked Habbin North if we’d seen some strange assault not witnessed by anyone else. We hadn’t. Two other Chester defenders rolled about in mysterious circumstances. Murray-Henry actually rolled back onto the pitch after first rolling off it. Actually, I think he injured himself.
Bennett and Brophy were playing really well. What might they have done at Notts? Brophy shot narrowly over the bar before the rampaging Kouassi unselfishly squared the ball to him. Effortless Brophy beat a defender before rifling a shot into the roof of the net. 3-0 at half time. Would we see a big score now?
Alas no. The second half happened but there really is nothing to say about it. Mpanzu looked class until he was as needlessly stamped on by a defender. McConnell and Hoddle made a real difference when they came on. They are players of real promise. Kachunga really didn’t do much. We need to keep our best forwards fit and maybe be a bit more aggressive and confident. We’ve got a decent side here.