Chester 1 Darlington 0

Mottley-Henry 11 mins, 1-0

Quakers nearly capitalised on a poor Chester pass in the second minute, when the ball was played straight to Cedric Main in the Chester half, but his pass forward to Jack Maskell saw his fellow striker flagged for offside.

Chester won the first corner after 4 minutes, the ball was floated in from the left for Kevin Roberts to head wide.

Chester took the lead on 10 minutes. Connor Woods struck a powerful shot that Rory Lawson couldn’t hold, and Dylan Mottley-Henry pounced on the rebound.

Chester went in search of a second, and Nathan Woodthorpe curled a right foot shot just past the right hand post.

Quakers got their first corner on 26 minutes courtesy of a misplaced back pass by Leigh. McGowan curled the ball over to the back post, where Platt couldn’t quite connect. Chester broke away, and Leigh fired across the face of goal.

The first time Chester keeper Bobby Jones was called into serious action was on 31 minutes when McGowan curled the ball into the area from the right, ad Jones, under pressure from Platt, held on at the second attempt.

Quakers had Rutledge to thank for a goalline clearance on 35 minutes when a corner dropped to Roberts, who poked the ball towards goal, but Rutledge cleared.

And in Chester’s next attack, Kelly tried a left foot shot from the edge of the area that Watson touched the ball over the bar.

Quakers had a break on 42 minutes when McGowan broke and he slipped Tom Tweedy through on the left, but the winger fired into the side netting.

They had a good spell of pressure before half time, and McGowan had a shot blocked.

They got a free kick just outside the box on half time, but McGowan’s effort went into the wall

Half time 1-0

Team: Watson, Forbes, Lees, Barrow, Griffiths, Platt, McGowan, Tweedy, Rutledge, Maskell, Main

Subs; McGrath, Hedley, Barton, Howells, Myers-Smith, Lowes

Bookings: Main 18, Rutledge 18