Chester 1-1 Marine Enterprise NLN Tuesday 4th November 2025
Adam Yates reports from the Deva Stadium where Marine suffered last minute heartbreak from an injury time Chester equaliser after a bizarrely eventful game on the Welsh border.
The starting lineup brought three changes from the side that battled Fylde at the weekend with Josh Wardle notably on the bench with a knock (although he would come on near full time to try to help the cause). Harvey Gregson deputised as Captain and James Brown also came into the eleven, meaning a central defence of Drysdale and Anson.
Whatever gameplan Bobby Grant had beforehand was dismantled when both Leigh Whelan and Ash Hunter were forced off through injuries and replaced by Sam Fielding and George Newell.
A clash by the edge of the pitch resulted in a snapped corner flag and a six minute stoppage in finding a replacement which cheered up the home crowd no end.
However it was that stoppage that resulted in additional injury time and during that came Marine’s breakthrough with Newell heading home from a corner.
Marine’s luck swung again when Seals midfielder Tom Peers was adjudged to have dived and as he was already cautioned, referee Jonathan Maskrey gave him his marching orders which promoted outrage for the majority of the 1700 in attendance.
Chester were the dominant side in the second half and the vast amount of time was spent in the Marine half by out outfielders via multiple corners, set pieces and half chances for the hosts. Still Marine clung on.
George Newell, himself a substitute, had to be replaced and the players were feeling the physical effects of being under constant pressure despite being a man up. Midway through the second period, the Marine bench found themselves also on the wrong end of the referee when Grant was sent off for aggravating a Chester player warning up by collecting a ball in his general orbit.
The arrival of Iwan Murray gave the Seals another gear with seven minutes of injury time welcomed by the Deva crowd and the constant barrage finally found the ball at the back of the Marine net via James Jones.
The draw adds another point to Bobby Grant’s maiden season as Marine manager and up a place into twelfth and the top half of the National League North table.
Marine take to the road again this Saturday against Leamington hoping to make it five games unbeaten on their travels.
Man of the Match – Harvey Gregson
Chester – Murray-Jones, Weeks (c), Leak (Roberts 87), J. Jones, Peers, Bainbridge, Zanzala (Woods 59), Leigh (Murray 66), P.Jones, Carson, Shorrock (Woodthorpe 59)
Unused subs – Barlow, Kelly-Evans, Arthur
Marine – Barnsley, Brown, Samuels-Smith, Whelan (Newell 45 – Wardle 90), Sinclair-Smith, Gregson, Marsden (Tunstall 90), Anson, Popoola (Thomas 71), Hunter (Fielding 35), Drysdale
Unused Subs – McIntyre, Huby
Attendance: 1,743