Defensive tactics a sickener for McCall

Stuart McCall, struggling with the dreaded lurgy, needed a pre-Christmas pick-me-up. Instead he cut a frustrated, spluttering figure on the touchline as City were ground down.

They did enough to win against opponents whose sole ambition was to go home with a point but you sensed they could still be out there now and a goal would not have come.

McCall had warned that it would be like this but felt City would have the guile and firepower to break through Chester’s negative ranks. Instead he was consigned to feeling even more under the weather by 90 minutes of pure frustration.

Mark Wright, on the other hand, was more than happy to play Scrooge. The grumbles that followed the final whistle on Valley Parade’s first goalless draw for 14 months signalled a job well done for the recently reinstalled Chester chief.

Wright, now in his third spell in charge, said: “I’m not going to go to places like Bradford with their flying wingers and open the game up so they can rip us apart, throw crosses in and win by five or six.

“We haven’t got the budget like the big boys in this league. You come to this stadium, look round and think ‘wow’.

“Bradford have got a hell of a lot of good players so we have to come here and be resolute. I’m not really bothered whether people say we deserved to get a result.”

Having focused the week’s training on crossing and shooting, McCall had to watch his side banging their head against a brick wall.

Chester would come out to play on rare occasions but otherwise it was a frustrating session of attack and defence – with the blue and white striped defenders coming out on top.

“They will be delighted with a hard-earned point from a good defensive display but for us it was a nearly performance,” said McCall.

“You can tell Mark’s an England centre half and he’s certainly got them working hard for each other and defending well. That’s how they play and good luck.

“But I couldn’t be too harsh on our players. We weren’t as free-flowing as the Brentford game but there was no lack of effort. Chester just defended for their lives.

“We just needed one goal to make them come out and on another day we’d score from one of the three or four scrambles we had.

“You’ve seen Man United do it plenty of times at Old Trafford. They are on top against teams who sit back to defend and then just nick one at the end. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do that.”

Paul Arnison had talked confidently about a ten-point haul from the four games over Christmas and New Year, with this being earmarked as one of the three wins.

But City have suddenly stopped scoring with abandon. There were missed chances galore against Dagenham and Brentford and then a blank against a blanket defence on Saturday.

One goal would have won it and Chester could not have complained. This was one of those games for which the phrase “dogging it out” was surely invented.

An ugly victory should have set up City perfectly for the tasty Boxing Day trip to Peter Jackson’s Lincoln. Instead they head east with only two points from the last three games and without a win in December.

To be fair, City did not do too much wrong. They had the beating of Chester down both flanks, especially on the right where Steve Jones really sparkled, and caused panic in the away ranks on several occasions.

Shots rained in on goal for much of the final half hour and but for the heroics of John Danby in goal, City would have walked away with a comfortable sixth home win of the campaign.

But instead the draws now match the victory column. The fact that City still boast the fifth-best home record sums up just how little there is between any side in the division.

The scene was set from the sixth minute when Barry Conlon’s flick released Jones to bend in an early ball that just outstripped Michael Boulding.

Conlon, who is expected to sign his new contract this week, was back in the starting line-up because of Peter Thorne’s sore shoulder.

The top scorer was on the bench but, having avoided any physical contact since the injury at Brentford, McCall was not keen to risk him unless absolutely necessary. City surely possessed enough cutting edge without him to get the job done.

Jones continued to race down the right flank with abandon, while Luke O’Brien – more than a quiet Omar Daley – found joy on the left. But each time the ball got whipped in the box, there seemed to be a blue leg in the way.

But City’s sights were slightly off. Jones crossed just behind Boulding; McLaren’s free-kick flew narrowly over Conlon; another Jones centre was scrambled away from his near post by Kevin Roberts.

The home side were getting there or thereabouts but it was not until the final minute of the half, when Danby tipped away a Jones effort, that the Chester keeper finally had a genuine shot to save.

Danby was to make up for the inactivity after the break. His own side countered sporadically but front pair Ryan Lowe and Kevin Ellison had to be watched.

Lowe wastefully thrashed wide when City were caught flat-footed claiming offside and Ellison, always a spiky character, tried his luck from the halfway line after spotting Rhys Evans off his line.

Otherwise, it was simply a question of whether City had the patience and flair to end Chester’s resistance.

City stepped it up after the break, with Boulding heading over his first chance to continue his remarkable recent scoring run.

Jones forced a decent low save from Danby and Nicky Law twice pulled the trigger from the edge of the box but the longer the stalemate persisted, the more Chester’s belief grew.

As City’s momentum lulled for a few minutes, Chester had a go themselves. Ellison lacked composure with a decent opportunity and an overhead kick from Roberts did not fly over by much.

Home anxiety was growing as Conlon and Boulding could not find the target with headers but City twice thought they had finally won it in the frantic final few minutes.

Daley seemed to take an age dribbling around the Chester penalty area but suddenly found a big enough hole to fire through the sea of legs. With his view obscured, Danby could have known little about it but the ball cannoned off his legs to safety.

The Chester keeper then saved the best until last, defying Graeme Lee in the third minute of stoppage time with a close-range block.

Attendance: 12,092