Dev Squad: Chester 0-0 Wanderers

The opening stages of the clash were fairly evenly contested, with Craig Mahon producing the first notable chance of the game for Chester inside three minutes as he curled the ball goal bound, but Jay Lynch plucked the ball out of the air with ease.

Jason Jarrett was next to test the Bolton defence with a smartly taken free-kick, but Cian Bolger was quick to clear the ball behind for a corner, while Jamie Menagh almost had the Chester faithful on their feet moments later as his powerful shot drifted just wide of the post.

Having withstood some early pressure from the hosts, Wanderers slowly began to find a foothold in the game with Davies proving himself to be a nuisance upfront, John Danby in the Chester goal left scrambling for his shot from distance in the 12th minute.

Chris Lester was next to try his luck after mazy run into the area, but the winger failed to get the power needed behind his shot to really trouble Danby, while Oscar Threlkeld couldn’t keep his half volley from the edge of the area on target halfway through the first period.

Sanmi Odelusi looked certain to break the deadlock on the half hour mark after chasing the ball downfield in what originally seemed to be a lost cause, but Danby reacted swiftly to scoop it to safety and away from the feet of the winger.

With the sweltering conditions at the Deva Stadium clearly taking their toll on the players the tempo of the game appeared to drop a little, but both sides were still being forced to maintain their concentration levels as a number of half chances went begging.

As the clock ticked down it was to be Wanderers who would finish the stronger, with Tom Eaves just failing to keep his shot down from the edge of the area after an excellent lay-off from Davies. 

The Whites looked to have taken the lead on the stroke of half time after Davies connected with Lester’s ball across the face of goal which left Danby stranded, but his shot was deflected behind by a crowd of Chester bodies to keep the scores level at the break.

After ending the first half on a high, Bolton almost snatched the lead immediately after the restart after good work from Lester and Odelusi, but the pair were to be denied by some resilient Chester defending.

The chance seemed to bring the game to life, with both sides enjoying a number of attacks that ultimately came to nothing.

Michael Kay had the Wanderers defence back-peddling just after the hour mark with a dangerous swinging cross, but luckily for the Whites the ball eluded all the Chester shirts that had congregated in the Bolton area.

Chester looked to have taken the lead in the 66th minute as Chester captain George Horan’s header clipped the post, with Cian Bolger almost putting the rebound into the net himself, but the Wanderers skipper was to have his blushes spared.

Chester substitutes Marc Williams and Jamie Reed combined well on the edge of the area in the 71st minute, but their work was ultimately in vain as Lynch reacted to scoop Reed’s lofty pass away from danger.

Reed was again proving his quality just moments later as he found himself in space, but he failed to keep his shot down as it flew over the cross bar.

Given their dominance it was clear to see that Chester sensed a goal and looked to have found it with 15 minutes left as Alex Titchiner found himself in acres of space inside the area, but Mills recovered well to block his shot and head the ball to safety. 

With time running out both sides pushed for a winner with Odelusi going within inches of snatching the win at the death, but it was ultimately in vain as the clash ended goalless.

Fullarton’s side will continue their pre-season campaign against Macclesfield Town on Tuesday evening, kick off 7.45pm.