A deserved victory for Rovers.
The first half was patchy. We looked rusty after a couple of weeks without a game and we gave the ball away too cheaply at times. Chester were competitive and caused us some problems in the wide areas, with both Mahon and Vose having decent games. However, on three or four occasions we did put slick moves together and created by far the best chances of the half: two efforts off the woodwork from Norwood and Hughes and a good run and strike by Tollitt, in addition to the goal, which Cook finished expertly after another good ball from Jeff.
The second half was much better. We pressed higher up the pitch and retained the ball well and did not really give the opposition a sniff. There were not many clear chances aside from Norwood's goal, the best a lob over the Chester keeper from Cook. The Chester players protested that our second was offside, but it was clearly on from my position on the halfway line: Cook was offside but played no part in the move and James did well to round the keeper and provide a cool finish.
Individually, I thought Norburn looked sharper than in recent weeks and Tollitt continued his improvement. Ben still is not at his best, but there were several surging runs from him today. I thought McNulty and Buxton both had very solid games. However, my man of the match would be Jeff Hughes, who was excellent with and without the ball, particularly in the second half. It was good to see James Wallace get some more time on the pitch as well.
On to PP and Gateshead on Tuesday, where victory could lift us to second place.