Battling Magpies earn credible draw at Chester

​The hosts had much of the ball and the better of the first-half chances, Kole Hall with the only one to hit the target though – heading the ball strongly, but straight at Urwin.

Chorley’s first chance fell to Carlton Ubaezounu who was put through by Billy Whitehouse, his shot cleared off the line by Harrison Burke.

Both teams came out of the blocks quickly after the restart and again, Hall came closest – this time heading Iwan Murray’s corner against the post.

Chorley did begin to grow into the game as the minutes ticked by, Ubaezounu only inches away from getting on the end of Will Tomlinson’s driven cross.

The Magpies’ best opportunity to win the game then fell to Ubaezounu after a favourable flick-on left him with the goal at his mercy, only for the shot to miraculously be deflected over.

Hall continued to cause problems for the Chorley defence and probably should have done better with five minutes to go, forcing Urwin into a smart save down low as the ball headed towards the far corner.

Chester continued to push hard for a winner and Murray very, very nearly delivered for them at the death – his effort from distance had Urwin scrambling but the former couldn’t hit the target.

Chester: Stanway, Taylor (Haywood, 55’), Weeks (c) (Glendon, 64’), Burke, Goodson, Whitehouse, Daly, Murray, Hall, Coates, Edwards. Unused: Williams, Earl, Burton.

Chorley: Urwin (c), Henley, Ellis, Smith, Whitehouse, Calveley, Sampson (Britton, 79’), Tomlinson (Nolan, 64’), Moore, Ubaezounu, Johnson (Hazelhurst, 69’). Unused: Shenton, Scarborough.

Attendance: 2,308 (125 away)