Torrential Rain At Chester And the City Are Bogged Down

Saturday April 1st 1978.

Sealand Road, Chester, attendance 1,996.

CHESTER 2 EXETER CITY 1.

Exeter City's anxieties are not yet over following a most unhappy afternoon at Chester before a pathetically small attendance.

Not only were they decisively beaten by a reshuffled Chester team, but they also had Bobby Hodge carried off the field with a bruised hip in the first half and Tony Kellow in trouble with the referee for arguing near the end. The City could never master the difficult conditions, which were the outcome of torrential rain before the kick-off and during the game, and it was Chester who were in command until three minutes from the final whistle, when Holman scored Exeter's goal.

There were pools of water all over the pitch as Exeter kicked off in an especially heavy downpour. Exeter were the first to be dangerous and a shot from Hatch went over the bar. But after nine minutes Livermore put Mellor through to score with a low shot just inside the post, and four minutes before half time Phillips turned the ball into the net from Nickens's centre.

Chester: Lloyd; Nickens and Raynor; Jeffries, Storton, and Oakes; Delgado, Livermore, Howat, Mellor, and Phillips.

Exeter City:- Key; Templeman and Hore; Delve, Giles, and Hodge; Kellow, Randell, Bowker, Holman, and Hatch.

Referee: Mr J. Hunting of Leicester.