March 2006 News

31 March 2006
RYAN LOWE DEPARTS CITY

Ryan Lowe has played his last game for City after he had his contract terminated by the club and left by mutual consent in a shock move this afternoon. His contract ran until the end of next season. Lowe was the current top scorer at the club this season with 13 goals.

Lowe signed just before the transfer deadline in March 2005 from Shrewsbury Town and promptly scored two goals on his home debut against Bury. In all he played 38+4 games for City scoring 17 goals in the process.

Picture © Evening Leader

STRIKING DUO TO MISS OUT?
City will go in to tomorrow’s home game with Cheshire neighbours buoyed by Wednesday’s 3-1 victory at Boston United. The Blues are looking for their first back-to-back victories since beating Peterborough United (managed then by Mark Wright) and Nottingham Forest at Deva Stadium back at the end of November.

City look set to be without both Ryan Lowe and Michael Branch after Wright revealed both missed the York Street victory following a row, believed to be over tactics, at the Wrexham game. Wright told the Chester Chronicle: “We’re not prepared to have any player bigger than the football club or bigger than the team. We want everyone to be together and everyone to pull together.”

The Silkmen lie 17th in the table, five places and five points above City who will be eager to avenge the New Year’s Eve defeat at Moss Rose and close that gap. The Blues lost by a single goal on that occasion and had Ryan Lowe given a straight red card and a four match ban after lashing out at a Town player.

30 March 2006
VITAL WIN FOR CITY

On-loan striker Derek Asamoah was the City hero last night as his first ever hat-trick secured three points to lift the Blues above Rushden & Diamonds and Torquay United just clear of the relegation zone. Asamoah struck just before and minutes after half-time and completed his trio just after the hour mark before being substituted with a knock. Goalkeeper Chris MacKenzie made a welcomed return to the side following a broken thumb that has kept him out for 18 matches but the striking trio of Ryan Lowe, Michael Branch and Gregg Blundell all missed the victory.

Naturally manager Mark Wright was delighted with the win, he said: “To get a good away win not only takes us out of the bottom two, it also drags one or two other sides into the mix. It boosts our confidence for the matches we’ve got left. To get a win under our belt like this is a great plus all round.”

The Blues will be keen to get back-to-back victories as Cheshire neighbours Macclesfield Town visit Deva Stadium on Saturday. The Silkmen lie five points above City and have only won once on their travels in League Two this season.

Picture © Evening Leader

VAUGHAN COMPLETES TAKEOVER

Chairman Steve Vaughan has completed a takeover of Widnes Vikings rugby league club after securing 51% of the shareholding, he intends to increase this share in the near future. Vaughan will still remain chairman at Chester and has promised his committment remains wit the club.

Vaughan told the Daily Post: “I am still 100% committed to Chester City Football club, my commitment and ambitions for them are undiminished, and my enthusiasm is still as great as ever. The two clubs will complement each other, and I will ensure that both get the resource to progress together. Hopefully supporters of both clubs will view this development as a positive step.”

Picture © Evening Leader

29 March 2006
INJURY DOUBTS FOR CITY

The Blues play Boston United tonight looking for a win to lift them from the foot of League Two. Manager Mark Wright has injury doubts over several players ahead of the clash at York Street. Tom Curtis is again missing with a foot injurt and striker Gregg Blundell looks set to miss out with an ankle injury that kept him out of Sunday’s defeat at Wrexham.

Ryan Lowe and Michael Branch both picked up knocks at the Racecourse and it remains to be seen if they make tonight’s squad. Meanwhile the Blues have had defender Mark Albrighton’s loan period from Doncaster Rovers extended to the end of the season.

Boston currently lie in 14th position and The Pilgrims look set to be without Paul Ellender who was recalled by the Lincolnshire club from Chester on Monday but is ill. Captain Stewart Talbot will certainly miss the game though.

The teams last met in mid January when a late goal from Simon Rusk was enough to give Boston a 1-0 victory at Deva Stadium.

27 March 2006
MASSIVE GAME COMING UP

Another league defeat for City yesterday keeps them bottom of League Two. Apart from Rushden & Diamonds, all the other sides at the wrong end of the table picked up points on Saturday, City now sit two points adrift of Torquay United in the safety of 22nd place.

Slack marking allowed Wrexham an early goal yesterday through a Danny Williams header. Minutes later goalkeeper Paul Harrison saved a Matt Crowell penalty (pic left) to keep the score down in the early stages. The home side added a second though, an unstoppable shot from Mark Jones, nine minutes before the break.

Manager Mark Wright introduced Ryan Lowe for the ineffective Carl Regan on the hour mark and that spurred City, roared on by over 1300 fans, into 30 minutes of pressure that finally paid-off with a debut goal from the busy Jake Edwards two minutes from time. City went so close to a dramatic equaliser in the dying minutes as Paul Rutherford, Stewart Drummond, Michael Branch and Paul Ellender all saw efforts blocked or saved.

Wright said after the game: “We created enough chances to have won the game in the second period. Bad marking led to their first goal, but their second was an excellent effort. I thought that Jake Edwards had a first-class game and took his goal extremely well. We now face a massive game on Wednesday when we travel to Boston United. It is never an easy place to go, but we just have to ensure that we take all the good points from this game and ensure that we perform for the full 90 minutes. I think our supporters were brilliant, but we need that same support for our home games. Now it’s up to our players to repay them by running through brick walls and running their socks off.”

The Blues are back in action on Wednesday night when they travel for a rearranged League Two game at 14th placed Boston United. A win against the Pilgrims would lift City above both Rushden & Diamonds and Torquay United.

• The relegation run-in

Picture © Evening Leader

CHANGE OF TRAINING VENUE FOR CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
As from Tuesday 4 April 2006 for all age groups on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s we will be at Bishops High School, Vaughans Lane, Great Boughton Chester CH3 5XF. Training will start at 18:00hrs and aim to finish around 19.45 each evening. All parents are reminded to use the car parks provided by the main gate and not the tennis courts with no ecceptions. Due to vandalism we do not have access to any toilet facilities in the evenings. If there are any problems please contact either Mark Newman or Jim Hackett.

Mark Newman, Centre of Excellence Manager

RESERVE BAN FOR HESSEY
Defender Sean Hessey has received a two match ban from non-first team football following his red card for the reserves in their 3-3 draw with Bury last week.

ELLENDER RECALLED BY BOSTON

Defender Paul Ellender has been recalled by Boston United from his loan spell at Chester. Ellender made 5+0 appearance for City and almost achieved hero status with a last minute equaliser at the Racecourse ground yesterday only to be denied by a last-gasp goal line Shaun Pejic block.

Picture © Evening Leader

24 March 2006
CITY LOOKING FOR MORALE BOOSTER
City go into Sunday’s long-awaited derby match at Wrexham with an injury doubt over Tom Curtis. The midfielder was injured in last Saturday’s home defeat by Cheltenham Town and may have to sit out the all-ticket clash at the Racecourse. Loan signing Jake Edwards is expected to make his debut in a Blue shirt against the club where he started his career.

The big striker told the Chronicle: “It’s been a while since I played against Wrexham. I don’t know if anyone will notice me when I show up but they’re big rivals so it should be a pretty heated game. There’s no love lost between the two sides and I’m looking forward to the game, that’s for sure.”

Manager Mark Wright believes City can get a win that boos their morale. He said: “I think we’ve got to go out there and get three points and I believe we can. If we can get three points that goes a long, long way to lifting morale and pushing us up the league. It’s something that this club needs – the boys need a victory. It’s important to get some confidence behind them and to get some belief – then I think we can push on from there.”

The Blues don’t have a good record against the Dragons in recent years having failed to win in the last five meetings. The last Blues victory came in the northern semi-final of the Freight Rover Trophy on March 1987 when goals from Graham Barrow, Derek Fazackerley and Stuart Rimmer gave the Blues an extra-time 3-1 victory. As for League success it is almost 20 years to the day since City last came out on top against the old enemy in with a 2-1 victory at Sealand Road with goals from Ian Richardson and Gary Bennett.

The last visit to the Racecourse was on Valentines Day 1995, when City, bottom of the League at the time, and reduced to nine men following the dismissals of Eddie Bishop and Chris Lightfoot, came back to famously draw 2-2 with a last minute screamer from Andy Milner in a thriller.

On the attack. Chester push forward in the derby at the Racecourse in September 1950.
The Blues lost on this occasion 2-0 in front of 16,710.

23 March 2006
RICHARDSON JOINS MACC

Striker Marcus Richardson has joined Macclesfield Town on loan until the end of the season. Richardson, who has scored 6 goals in 23+13 matches for City this season, won’t be able to play for Macc when the sides meet at Deva Stadium on 1 April though.

Meanwhile it looks like Tamworth defender Scott Stamps, who has been training at the Deva, will not be coming to City before the transfer deadline. Lambs boss Mark Cooper told TeamTalk: “They were interested in taking him, but we need him here at the moment. He may end up going there are the end of the season, because he wants to play league football.”

Picture © Evening Leader

RESERVES SHARE SIX GOALS
Goals from Dave Artel, Marcus Richardson and a last-gasp equalised from Abdel El Kholti brought City a point from an exciting 3-3 away draw against Bury played at Radcliffe Borough yesterday.

• Match report

22 March 2006
CITY CATCH ANOTHER LOAN SIGNING

City have captured the loan signing of Exeter City striker Jake Edwards until the end of the season. Edwards started his career at Wrexham in 1998 and had loan spells at Blackpool and Telford United before joining the Bucks Head club for £20,000 in January 2000. After two years there he moved on to Yeovil Town and finally to Exeter in July 2004. He’s recently completed a 12 match loan spell at Tamworth where he scored 7 goals.

Meanwhile defender Tom Curle has left the club. Son of the former manager Keith Curle, Tom played just 1+2 first team appearances for City.

Picture © Evening Leader

21 March 2006
ISA STATEMENT
Following last night’s AGM the new ISA committee have issued the following statement.

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FANS RALLY BEHIND THE TEAM

Chester City Independent Supporters Association has pledged to lead fans’ backing of the team as the season reaches a critical phase.

Speaking after the ISA’s annual general meeting chairman George Rogers said: “It’s vital that all supporters get behind the players between now and the end of the season.

“We recognise that fans have the right to feel disappointed by what has gone on since December. But in the long-term interests of the club the most important thing is to support the team in their efforts to avoid relegation.”

The ISA, which ran a “Great Escape” campaign the last time City were in a relegation fight, has inaugurated a “Mission Impossible” campaign this time – with the significant postscript: “We can do it!”

Sports broadcaster Charlie Lambert has joined the ISA committee along with Alison Dean who becomes secretary and Keith Musson who takes over from Martin Williams as treasurer. Martin remains on the committee. George Rogers was re-elected as chairman and Peter Mitchell becomes vice-chairman.

Long-serving committee members Sarah Young and Vi Jennerway have stepped down.

George added: “The ISA has played a key role in sustaining the football club through thick and thin. The club is in difficult times again and we will do all we can to ensure that we preserve our league status.”

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• ISA website

20 March 2006
ISA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The 2006 AGM will take place tonight at the United Services Club, Crook Street, Chester. Doors will open at 19:30 for a 20:00hrs start. There will be at least two committee posts to fill as both chairman George Rogers and treasurer Martin Williams are standing down. Charlie Lambert is the guest speaker.

19 March 2006
VICTORY FOR YOUTH TEAM
Goals from Chris Holroyd, Robert Marsh-Evans and James Scales gave the Youth team a home 3-1 Youth Alliance League victory over high-flying Burnley on Saturday morning.

• Match report | Youth fixtures | Youth stats

CITY HIT ROCK BOTTOM

Chester’s disastrous run of League results continued on Saturday when their 14th defeat in 16 matches completed their slide down the table from a play-off place to bottom spot.

City enjoyed plenty of possession against Cheltenham Town at Deva Stadium but once again failed to find the net from several half chances and were made to pay for Brian Wilson’s goal scored after just two minutes.

Manager Mark Wright said after this latest defeat: “We need a big striker and possibly a winger, maybe one or two, but the difficulty is attracting them here. We have some experienced strikers and perhaps they need to gamble to get on the end of things. Perhaps we need help for them if we are to turn possession into goals.” Cheltenham boss John Ward admitted after the game: “I couldn’t have denied Chester a goal and I’m not sure we deserved to win.”

City chairman Steve Vaughan said: “Far too many players think they are better than this club. Considering the position we are in that is a ridiculous viewpoint, as well as being totally unacceptable. I want to see some pride shown by certain players next Sunday when we face Wrexham. I want to see some of them, who have been merely going through the motions lately, giving our club the respect it deserves and we are paying for.”

The Blues are next in action on Sunday when they make the short trip for the first of this season’s derbies with local rivals Wrexham. The match at the Racecourse is all-ticket and will kick-off at 12:00 noon.

• The relegation run-in

17 March 2006
WRIGHT LOOKING TO BE POSITIVE

The Blues go looking for their first home win in nine matches as Cheltenham Town ride into Chester tomorrow for the second time this season. The Robins last visited the Deva in January when they dumped City out of the FA Cup in a third round replay. That win rewarded them with a televised tie against Newcastle United. The two sides had drawn 2-2 ten days earlier after a dramatic late fightback from City.

Prior to that disappointment, the Blues were beaten by a single goal on Boxing day at Whaddon Road in the reverse League Two fixture.

Meanwhile it looks like the club have failed to bring in fresh blood in time for the League Two fixture against a side that currently occupy the last play-off spot. The visitors will be without forward Steven Gillespie who was injured in training while defender Shane Duff is in contention after returning from injury in the week.

Ahead of the clash manager Mark Wright said: “We need to take a lead in a match and then the players will start to believe in themselves again. I firmly believe that there are games we have to play between now and the end of the season that we can win. We just have to go out and be positive. We have to look after our own, put our own house in order, and win our own games to be be safe.”

15 March 2006
WRIGHT TARGETS LOAN SIGNINGS

Manager Mark Wright has his sights set on two more loan signings this week. The club have made approaches to both Swansea City for their midfield player Kevin McLeod, currently on the transfer list, and the manager has also had discussions with Stuart Pierce about Manchester City’s teenage player Ishmael Miller.

However in order for new signings to com in players have to move out and there is a possibility that two of the current transfer-listed players will be moving on by the end of the week.

Wright told the Daily Post: “We are aware of the availability of Kevin McLeod and we would be keen to bring him in, an approach has been made so we will just have to wait for developments.”

City’s reserves match against Bury at Deva Stadium this afternoon has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Picture © Evening Leader

14 March 2006
STRIKER BRANCH BACK IN TRAINING
Michael Branch is back in training following an incident in training last week. There appears to have been a disagreement over training on Friday and as a result Branch was left out of the squad that traveled to Darlington on Saturday. However talks between Branch and manager Mark Wright have been held and the matter has been resolved.

12 March 2006
CITY’S WOE CONTINUES
City lost by a single goal at Darlington yesterday to leave them sitting agonisingly above a relegation place. The Blues now lie 23rd in League Two above Oxford United on goal difference and a point above the drop zone.

The Quakers were reduced to ten men after the dismissal of Clarke Keltie with a straight red card after he appeared to lash out at Ryan Lowe. As so often happens the ten men appeared to raise their game and the only goal of the match came 15 minutes form time when Shelton Martis rose to head home a corner.

Blues manager Mark Wright has stated he will be looking to add width to the squad this week ahead of the next game against play-off chasing Cheltenham Town at Deva Stadium.

Wright said: “We’ve not really got any wingers or width. We know that and it stood out again. When you’ve got width it hurts people. We’ve got to try and look this week to bring a couple of people in because I think it’s important to what we want as a football club. Other than that I don’t see a lot wrong.”

10 March 2006
HAS SKIPPER BRANCH WALKED OUT?

It’s reported on Dee 106.3 radio that club captain Michael Branch has walked out of the club. There is no official news from the club yet on this report.

Branch missed the midweek match against Torquay United after he had a disagreement with manager Mark Wright over his fitness. The club doctor had advised Wright that Branch wa ill and should not be considered for the Tuesday night clash.

Wright told the Chester Chronicle: “Michael Branch did not feature because he was ill the day before and the doctor said he was not to be selected. He turned up without letting any of us know, saying he was fit enough. Well, he wasn’t. He didn’t let anybody know. The doctor tells us he wasn’t fit and all of a sudden Michael Branch turns up. If Michael Branch is on top of his game and is a confident player and doing the right things and working hard for the team, then I think he is a major plus. But I think people here at this moment in time have got to understand it’s about work ethic, work rate and commitment to the cause and if you do that, then we’ll get ourselves out of trouble. But I don’t think the penny has dropped with everybody over what situation Chester are in.”

Picture © Evening Leader

CITY LOOK TO BUILD ON POINT

Chester travel to play Darlington tomorrow looking to build on the point gained from Tuesday’s home draw with Torquay United. The Quakers currently lie 11th in League Two eight point behind a play-off position. Darlo have a useful home record having won eight and drawn six of their 17 games there this season. With goalkeeper Chris MacKenzie not quite recovered from his broken thumb Paul Harrison looks set to make his second appearance for the Blues following a solid debut in midweek.

One player who appears not to be involved is on-loan winger Derek Asamoah who failed to turn up for training yesterday. On the matter City chairman Steve Vaughan said: “Asamoah’s non-appearance training was extremely disappointing, so we will take advice from the appropriate authorities about possibly imposing a financial fine on the player.”

Darlington are expected to have trio Matthew Clark, Joe Kendrick and Simon Johnson returning from injury.

The sides last met at Deva Stadium on 27 August and fought out a thrilling 4-4 draw. City, who trailed 0-2 at the break and 1-3 not long after it, fought back with two goals in the final minute to preserve their unbeaten start to the season. Marcus Richardson (2) and Gregg Blundell (2) were on the scoresheet for the Blues that afternoon.

Other matches in League Two tomorrow are: Bristol Rovers v Notts County, Grimsby Town v Barnet, Leyton Orient v Cheltenham Town, Lincoln City v Rushden & Diamonds, Macclesfield Town v Rochdale, Mansfield Town v Boston United, Stockport County v Oxford United, Torquay United v Peterborough United , Wrexham v Bury, Wycombe Wanderers v Shrewsbury Town. Northampton Town entertain Carlisle United tonight and a win for the Cobblers at Sixfields would take them to the top of the table.

• The last time we met

8 March 2006
KEEPER GILLET LEAVES

Good luck to goalkeeper Stéphane Gillet who has been paid off and left the club, he’s expected to return to Luxembourg. The international shot-stopper made a fantastic debut for City in the third round of the FA Cup at Cheltenham Town at the start of the year and went on to make 10+0 appearances in a City shirt.

WREXHAM TICKETS CHANGES
City have revised their arrangements for the selling of tickets for the away game at Wrexham. As a result supporters are now able to buy more that one ticket per person.

8th March 2006
Season Ticket Holders can now purchase 2 tickets per Voucher. Voucher G is the voucher to be produced. Office open from: 10:00-19:00hrs

9th March 2006
All other City Supporters, subject to suitable identification being produced, can purchase 2 tickets per person. Office open from: 10:00-19:00hrs.

10th March 2006
Tickets go on unrestricted sale, subject to suitable identification being produced, to City supporters. Office open from: 10:00-16:00.

ISA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The 2006 AGM will take place on Monday 20 March at the United Services Club, Crook Street, Chester. Doors will open at 19:30 for a 20:00hrs start. There will be at least two committee posts to fill as both chairman George Rogers and treasurer Martin Williams are standing down. Charlie Lambert is the guest speaker.

CITY HALT MISERABLE RUN

Chester brought to an end a miserable run of five defeats with a point against bottom of the table Torquay United but failed to take advantage as the visitors were reduced to ten men with over 30 minutes remaining.

The Blues had fallen behind on a heavy pitch to a first half goal from Kevin Hill midway through the first half but the advantage swung to City five minutes after the restart a Lee Thorpe was given a straight red card following an incident with Ben Davies. City responded swiftly and Gregg Blundell leveled the game seven minutes later but were unable to make their numerical advantage count.

Manager Mark Wright said after the game: “This gives us a platform to build on, I thought we should have had a winner in the second half, but there are a lot of positives we can take from this victory. We should have done better in front of goal, especially after Torquay had their man sent off. There were a lot of balls whipped round the back that we should have followed in, but it’s probably just a lack of confidence because we haven’t been scoring goals. I’ve said many times before there isn’t a great deal between the top sides and the lower sides in this division, and everybody is capable of beating everybody else on the day.”

The point lifts City above Oxford United and Bury into 19th spot on goal difference.

Picture © Evening Leader

RESERVES POSTPONED
Not surprisingly tonight’s reserve match between Chester City and Wrexham has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Deva Stadium.

7 March 2006
RACECOURSE TICKETS
The club have today announced that their allocation of tickets (2,000) for the League Two fixture against Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground on Sunday 26 March 2006 (kick off 12:00 noon) will start to go on sale at Deva Stadium from tomorrow. Details are as follows.

Wednesday 8th March
Chester City Season Ticket holders only using Voucher G from their Season Ticket Booklet.

Season Ticket Holders may purchase one ticket each only.

Thursday 9th March
All other City supporters – however, limited to a purchase of one ticket per City supporter only.

Friday 10th March
Remaining tickets go on general sale to Chester fans with no restriction on how many tickets may be purchased.

Tickets will be on sale from 10:00 till 19:00hrs on Wednesday and Thursday and from 10:00hrs till 16:00hrs on Friday.

Ticket prices are:
Adults £16.00, Concessions £10.00 and Juniors £5.00.

The club go on to state:

“Supporters will be aware that fixtures of this nature can attract people whose intentions are to cause anti-social and potentially violent behaviour. For this reason we would ask all supporters to produce some form of address identification when making their ticket purchase, examples of such identification include drivers licence or a recent utility bill.”

DAVIES RETURNS FOR CITY

Midfielder Ben Davies returns to the City squad tonight after serving a one match ban for five bookings. For the second time of asking, the Blues entertain bottom of the table side Torquay United in a six-pointer at Deva Stadium looking to prevent a club record seventh home defeat on the run.

This will be manager Mark Wright’s first home game since he guided the Blues to the Conference championship against Scarborough in April 2004. Defenders Mark Albrighton and Paul Ellender are expected to make their home debuts along with the possibility of Paul Harrison debuting in goal. Justin Walker is ruled with an ankle injury.

The Gulls prop up the division after their 0-2 home defeat at the hands of Mansfield Town ten days ago and are expected to have both Lee Thorpe and Craig Taylor back in their side following suspension and injury respectively. Defender Steven Reed who has joined on loan from Yeovil Town is also expected to play.

The two sides last met on a sunny August Bank Holiday Monday at Plainmoor when a great display in the home goal from Andy Marriott looked to have kept City at bay, but last gasp effort from Ryan Lowe gave the Blues all three points.

Picture © Evening Leader

• The last time we met

6 March 2006
NEW PILGRIMS DATE
City’s League Two match against Boston United has been re-arranged and will now take place at York Street on Wednesday 29 March, kick-off 19:45hrs. The original game was postponed on 15 February due to a waterlogged pitch.

4 March 2006
MATCH OFF
Following this morning’s pitch inspection by Hertfordshire referee Keith Hill, today’s home match against Torquay United has been postponed. “There was ice beneath the overnight snow and I postponed the match because my main concern was obviously for the safety of the players.” said Hill. The game has been quickly rearranged and will now take place on Tuesday at 19:45hrs.

3 March 2006
PITCH INSPECTION AT 15:00HRS
Due to the recent snow fall there will be a pitch inspection at 15:00hrs today to determine if tomorrow’s home game with Torquay United can go ahead. Anyone in the area who can help with clearing the snow is asked to turn up at the ground asap.

2 March 2006
CITY NAME PLAYERS
Goalkeeper Stéphane Gillet is one of the players City are to make available on loan. Joining the Luxembourg international are Maltese international Luke Dimech, Craig Dove, Tom Curle, Abdou El Kholti and Marcus Richardson. Chairman Steve Vaughan told the Daily Post: “We have already had inquiries for some of the players involved. Aldershot, Woking and Southport are interested in Marcus Richardson, and two of the other players have also created interest from clubs. It is also an opportunity for all the players to impress potential new clubs prior to the summer, when they are all out of contract.”

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE TRAINING CANCELLED
Tonight’s training for all age groups at the Centre of Excellence at Kings School and Abbey Gate is cancelled due to the weather and this Sunday’s games v Bradford City will also be off.
Mark Newman

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

Stéphane Gillet was on international duty last night for Luxembourg in their home friendly match against Belgium at the Josy Barthel Stadium. Note: The match was abandoned however due to snow on 65 minutes with Belgium winning 2-0.

Defender Luke Dimech played for Malta in their 2-0 home defeat by Georgia that left them to finish bottom in the Coca-Cola & Multiplus International Tournament.

• Chester’s Internationals

Picture © Evening Leader

1 March 2006
WALKER SIDELINED
Midfielder Justin Walker may miss most of the remainder of the season after picking up an ankle injury in training yesterday.

SEVEN TO BE LOANED OUT
The club are to circulate the names of seven players that are being allowed to leave the on loan. Manager Mark Wright has two players in mind to bring to the club but others must be released to make way for them. The names of the seven have yet to be released.

City chairman Steve Vaughan said: “We will circulate the names of the seven players involved to all League Two and Conference clubs in the next 48 hours. Certain players involved have already been spoken to, but until all of them have been informed, it would be imprudent of me to reveal who they are.”

CITY DROP TWO PLACES
As a result of tonight’s two League Two results: Leyton Orient 0 Barnet 0, and Rochdale 1 Bury 1, the Blues have dropped a further two places to a precarious 21st in League Two.