Chester FC suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Peterborough Sports after Josh McCammon slotted away a spot kick following a controversial penalty call.
After going undefeated in eight games in 31 days, Chester’s impressive run came to an end in a lacklustre performance at the Deva Stadium.
The Seals manager, Calum McIntrye, made four changes from the side that featured in the away draw against Leamington on Saturday.
Due to fatigue and injuries, the starting team featured many young players with the average age being 23.
The first 15 minutes saw Chester start positively and dictate the tempo but were unable to make it count. The first chance fell to Kurt Willoughby as the number nine turned and fired after a short corner but saw his shot go wide without troubling Sports’ goalkeeper, Peter Crook.
The visitors then managed to get back into the game and undertook a spell of possession which meant Chester’s number one Harry Tyrer, was called to action. The Everton loanee dealt with a long-range effort, caught an early whipped cross and punched away a corner kick.
The game deciding moment came on the stroke of halftime as referee, Liam Corbettt, deemed that Chester captain, Declan Weeks, handled the ball in the penalty area. After a delayed decision, McCammon fired the resulting spot kick into the bottom left, sending Tyrer the wrong way.
Young centre-half, Harrison Burke, was also substituted before the penalty was taken due to a head injury and he was replaced by Alex Kenyon.
The hosts started the second half well and picked up the tempo as the rain and hail increased. However, the Turbines defended well and frustrated Chester forcing them wide and dealing with the following crosses.
Halfway through the second 45, Chester had a good spell of chances. Midfielder, Rhys Hughes, made a dominant run through the middle but then fired over from outside the box. A corner came soon after and it fell to Weeks, but his attempt was thwarted.
As the game approached the final whistle, Chester appeared frustrated and were unable to breakdown a defensively sound Peterborough side. Willoughby had an effort on goal after some good build up play in the 86th minute, but the shot was taken off balance and Crook was able to get down to it.
In the dying moments, Peterborough had the opportunity to put the game to bed after deploying a brilliant counter-attack down the left flank. Johnson Gyamfi made an excellent run, cut in and then played it across to substitute Dan Jarvis. Moving it back onto his left, Jarvis shot tamely allowing Tyrer to collect it easily.
