A dominant Chester were too strong for Southport at the Big Help Stadium, securing a 2-0 win to extend their unbeaten run to five games.

Both sides came together before kickoff to honour the late Sir Bobby Charlton who passed away earlier this week.

Chester spelled out their intent early on with chance in the first minute catching the Southport defence off guard, only for Tom Peers to shoot just wide of the far post. 

The away side continued to dominate and it wasn’t long until they had their reward. Just eight minutes in captain George Glendon opened the scoring after a great bit of play from Elliot Whitehouse and some poor defending from Southport resulted in the number 8 slotting home to send the travelling fans wild. 

The Seals kept piling on the pressure not allowing the home side to get out of their own half. Then, in the 14th minute they were awarded a penalty when Adam Thomas was taken down after good work by Peers on the right.

Whitehouse stepped up trying to continue his impressive goal record only for Southport keeper Chris Renshaw to guess correctly and save low to his right, giving the home fans in the Jack Carr stand something to cheer about. 

A physical and fast paced first half saw Chester slow the play right down before the break, keeping hold of the ball that saw Southport struggle to get a foothold. The home side had a few promising moves late in the first half but were let down by the final ball and rarely threatened Chester keeper Wyll Stanway.

Jim Bentley’s team talk saw Southport start the second half in positive fashion. They controlled the first five minutes and hit the post following a great run down the right from Marcus Carver who crossed to Josh Hmami at the back post. His header back across goal saw Luke Burgess rush his shot against the upright, restoring some confidence.

However, any optimism didn’t last long when Chester doubled their lead on 55 minutes. Whitehouse was on target again, this time with a simple tap in before the travelling fans.

From here Chester showed how they have won six of their last seven games, taking control and dominating possession again to pile pressure onto the home defence. The few opportunities Southport had often resulted in a quick counter-attack by the Seals, but they lacked the finishing touch to extend the lead further. 

The game became more physical as the half went on with the referee Matt McQuillan awarding the home side three yellow cards and the away side one when Joel Taylor got into a tussle with Southport’s Niall Watson which needed splitting up.

It was Chester on cloud nine at the end as they m,oved to eighth in the table, nine points off top spot but just five points from second place with a game in hand ahead of Saturday’s trip to Curzon Ashton.

Southport, meanwhile, are down in 19th place but just three points behind Chester, so tight is the National League North. Bentley will be hoping to turn things around on Saturday when 14th placed Banbury Utd arrive at Haig Avenue.

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