Match Report: Chester Le Street town 0-0 Durham Cestria

A goalless draw is played out at Moor Park in the Cestrian derby 

It was a cagey game in which neither side predominantly dominated the flow of the match, however both keepers were called upon to make big saves throughout the play.

The main talking point of the game came late on when Durham were down to 10 players following a red card for defender Rebecca Bell.

Lineups:

Chester le Street town: Sophie Miller, Lydia Greenwood , Emma Hunt , Jess Spark , Isla Baxter , Katie Ellison ,  Georgia Gibson , Laura Hockaday (C) , Lily Mandel-Mueller , Jenny Ashton , Bethin B Boyle

Substitutes: Lily Jackson , Mya Forgie , Emilia De la Rue Brown , Ellen Dixon , Lillie Heard

Durham Cestria: Amelia Lydiatt , Grace Mackie (C) , Rebecca Bell , Mia Gibbon , Lola Stokes , Grace Monkhouse , Lleucu Mathias , Ellen Swan , Niamh Denyer , Eden Varah , Ellen-Marie Atkinson

Substitutes: Grace Foster , Anna Rowntree , Yasmin Davies , Elisabeth Penman , Kayleigh Wharton , Esohe Eguagie

Manager Matt Gattis made two changes from Chester’s 3-3 draw with Blackburn in the previous game with Lydia Greenwood and Jenny Ashton coming in to replace Lily Jackson and Anna Cowie with the side currently dealing with a number of injuries.

Durham controlled the match  for the majority of the first 15 minutes in which Ellen Swan had a shot just wide of the post.

Sophia Miller was called into action for the first time in the 15th minute as Durham neatly worked a pass across the box with Grace Monkhouse firing a strike towards goal.

Just minutes later down the other end of the pitch the captain for Chester , Laura Hockaday, forced a fingertip save from the Durham Keeper Amelia Lydiatt who forced the shot to a corner kick.

The remainder of the first half saw both sides make one another difficult to break down, whilst Chester remained very organised defensively.

The second half remained cagey. In the 71st minute the deadlock was about to break for Durham, as Ellen-Marie Atkinson was put on a one-on-one situation with Miller in goal but her effort was easy for Miller to catch.

Georgia Gibson was played through on goal for Chester before being pulled back by Rebecca Bell resulting in a red card for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity in the later stages of the game.

Despite being down a player, Durham was the team that kept pushing for a goal, with an effort by  Lleucu Mathias effort but was easily scooped by Miller once again.

Manager Matt Gattis said in a post-match interview:” A clean sheet is massive for the confidence of the girls.”

With this being the side’s first clean sheet of the season, Cestrians make it  five games in a row now unbeaten. While now with the point, Chester move 3 points clear of the relegation zone currently sitting in 9th position.