On a sunny afternoon, King’s Lynn Town made the long trip to Chester for their first away fixture of the season. However, the Linnets came away empty-handed as they fell to a 2-0 defeat.
The Linnets returned to the Deva Stadium just 112 days after the final day of last season, when a 0-0 draw was enough to see the Linnets secure their National League North position for another year.
The opening stages of the fixture were even, with both sides enjoying spells of possession. The first half-chance fell to Connor Woods, whose curling effort was blocked by Zak Mills.
However, in the seventh minute, the hosts took the lead as a looping ball into the box found the path of Tom Peers, who took it on the half-volley and rifled it into the back of the net.
The Linnets looked to respond as Ross Crane tried his luck from distance, but his effort was deflected and ultimately easy for the goalkeeper to collect.
While the Linnets searched for an equaliser, Chester should have made it two as they opened up the Linnets’ defence and Woodthorpe found himself one-on-one with Hollingshead, who pulled off a fantastic save to keep the score at 1-0.
The Linnets did have some nice moments going forward as Tom Scott found Jesse Nwabueze on the counter-attack. He tried to deliver a cross into the box, but it was ultimately cleared, in a game of near misses for the Linnets.
Ryan Tunnicliffe and Zak Mills combined to find Ross Crane in a crossing position, but he was also unable to find a yellow shirt.
A few moments later, Ross Crane did have the Linnets’ best attacking play of the half. He was able to use a fantastic bit of skill to beat his man and deliver a dangerous ball into the box. However, it was unable to meet anybody and, after a little bit of pinball in the box, was ultimately cleared away.
However, five minutes from the break, Chester had a second. Connor Woods’ curling effort was well saved by Ronnie Hollingshead, but the rebound was not dealt with and eventually found the path of Campbell, who fired the ball onto the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net.
The Linnets came out for the second half needing to find a response as Kwame Thomas leapt highest to meet a ball in from Michael Clunan, but his effort went over.
The Linnets dominated possession in the second period as they tried to find a way back into the contest. However, Chester were still dangerous on the counter-attack, with a spell of chances coming in the Linnets’ box. These were all dealt with well by Hollingshead and his defenders.
The Linnets kept pushing and trying to find something that would bring them back into the game, in what was ultimately a very frustrating afternoon for the Linnets. Hall-Johnson found space to get a shot off late on, but his effort went wide.
Ronnie Hollingshead was called upon a few more times late on as he pulled off a couple of fantastic saves, including one at his near post to deny Ward, as the game finished 2-0.
The Linnets will have to pick themselves up quickly as they are back on the road this Tuesday, when they take on Brackley Town.
A huge thank you to all the supporters who made the journey to Chester.