The trajectories of these two sides had been moving in opposite directions over the last couple of months. Darlington, under former Blues boss Steve Watson, had confirmed their escape from the relegation places which they had occupied for much of the season with a win over Farsley Celtic last weekend. Meanwhile Chester had slid from third in the League table at Christmas to knowing that they would fall short of a play-off place by their 3-1 defeat at Brackley on the same day.

So they met at the Deva for the final game of the season in what had become a mundane mid-table clash with little more than pride at stake. Perhaps appropriately the game ended goalless. Chester have become difficult to defeat under Calum McIntyre – but have found putting the ball in the net at the other end more troublesome, this season especially.

Not that the match was devoid of attempts on goal. Salkeld finished a strong run for the visitors with a shot palmed away by Stanway at full stretch. Platt also had a shot from distance, narrowly wide. The Blues carried a threat up front too with Peers looping a shot wide and Tolitt making the most of an interception to find himself through on goal but could only shoot straight at the Quakers’ keeper Young.

As the game wore on in the second half, Chester looked the more likely to break the deadlock, with Weeks a growing influence on the play. Caton replaced Thomas and added fresh impetus to City’s attacking with his willingness to run the channels. His fierce shot caused Young difficulty but squirmed away to safety. Woodthorpe blazed wide when the ball fell to him at a narrow angle and then, in stoppage time, Peers cut the ball back for Norton who turned well to shoot but was blocked at the last ditch by Lees to prevent the goal.

The point gained moved Chester up a place to tenth in the table as the season drew to a close. Darlington finished up as sixteenth. Both teams and both sets of supporters acclaimed each other in the bright sunshine at the final whistle. There was no pitch invasion, euphoric or otherwise and the curtain came down on a campaign tinged with frustration and disappointment for City whilst Darlington breathed a sigh of relief that this fixture will be repeated next year.

National League North
Attendance: 1,241 (262 Chester) Half Time: 1-1
Booked: Williams, Roberts.

Brackley Town: Lewis, Carline, Murombedz, Dean, Newton, Roberts (Cross 63), Lyttle, Hall (Armson 86), O’Sulllivan, Lilly. Subs not used: Gudger, Bates, Turner.
Chester: Stanway, Weeks, Burke (Woodthorpe 49), Williams, Peers, Glendon, Thomas, Tollitt (Caton 63), Heywood (Norton 75), Roberts, K.Burton. Subs not used: Taylor, Daly.
Referee: Darren Rogers.

The last away game of the season saw a healthy number of Exiles meet for a pre-match pint in Brackley’s Plough pub where they reflected on a season that hadn’t quite set their pulses racing.

It was less than a year since the unsavoury ending to the 2022-3 season in the play-offs at home against Brackley, but Chester’s faint play-off hopes for this season had long since evaporated.

From the start of this match though, where Chester were pressing from the off, you wouldn't think the Blues had their minds only on a trip to ‘Maga’ or other foreign destinations. It looked like they wanted to give the 262 travelling fans a final away day to remember.

So it was no surprise when the visitors went ahead after eight minutes, thanks to a clever move before an Ollie Heywood shot was cleared into the feet of Ben Tollitt. He put the ball into the net with ease, and it was looking like the Blue Army might be able to finish the season on a high.

But third-placed Brackley were having none of it, and halfway through the first 45 minutes Wyll Stanway was called on to make an excellent stop from Danny Newton. The resulting throw-in found the head of Connor Hall to enable the hosts to level up the match.

It remained 1-1 at half-time, despite another Tollitt effort, which was saved by Brackley goalkeeper Danny Lewis.

The home side came out stronger in the second half, with Hall finding the net again with another header soon after the re-start. Chester were now on the back foot for the rest of the game with their promotion-hopeful opponents scoring again on the 75th minute. A re-bound from a Stanway save fell well for Newton, who put their game well past the visitors when he hit into an empty net.

Chester didn’t stop until the final whistle, but after that third Brackley goal the away fans were thinking of their own summer holidays – wondering if a return to Brackley would be on the cards for 2024/5.

National League North
Attendance: 877 Half Time: 0-2
Booked: Weeks, Williams.

Gloucester City: Dennis, Durrell (Liggett 72), Duffus, Mbayo, Reckford, Smile, Pinchard, Hanks, Rowe (Wright 39), Brain (Smlley 76), Robinson. Subs not used: Thompson, Barlow.
Chester: Stanway, Burke, Williams, K.Burton, Heywood, Roberts (Daly 79), Weeks, Glendon, Murray (Tollitt 90), Norton (Thomas 61), Peers. Subs not used: Woodthorpe, Taylor.
Referee: Shelby Elson.

Many of us gathered together for a pre-match pint in Gloucester Docks could count the number of away goals seen this season on the fingers of one hand.

As we chatted in the sunny and historic surroundings, little did we know that we’d need two hands to keep score in Chester’s encounter with lowly Gloucester City later in the afternoon.

Chester needed a result to keep their slim play-off hopes alive, while Gloucester – featuring Elliott Durrell – were already all but relegated from the National League North.

The game started quietly, with most noise coming from a travelling Chester contingent which much have made a significant contribution to the attendance of 877.

Those Blues fans were soon cheering when Harrison Burke headed home on the 24th minute. Gloucester couldn’t fight back and just eight minutes later, Tom Peers put Chester two ahead.

The second half saw the Tigers trying to make an impact from the off, with Owen Brain making it 1-2 with a great strike that Wyll Stanway had no chance to save.

But that was Gloucester's highlight of the day, with George Glendon finding the net after excellent work by Iwan Murray. While the Chester fans were still celebrating, Murray was bought down in the box and a calm Adam Thomas scored with the resultant penalty to make it 4-1 to the Blues on the 71st minute.

However the goalfest wasn’t over as Burke scored a second, with a header from a 77th minute corner. Gloucester’s relegation was certain at that stage, with a 95th minute goal from Chester substitute Ben Tollitt just rubbing it in. I can safely say that it’s a shame we won’t be visiting Gloucester in 2024/5.

National League North
Attendance: 2,537 Half Time: 0-1
Booked: Roberts.

Chester: Stanway, Woodthorpe (Taylor 52), Burton, Williams (Norton 67), Burke, Thomas, Glendon, Roberts, Weeks, Tollitt, Peers (Murray 78). Subs not used: Daly, Heywood.
Alfreton Town: Willis, Clackstone, Lund, Digie, Wiley, Thewis (Salmon 90+2), Cantrill, Day (McDonagh 73), Waldock (Perritt 86), Fewster, Newhall. Subs not used: Askew, Taylor.
Referee: Oliver Mackey.

Brief hopes of reviving City’s play-off hopes kindled by a fine win at Buxton on Good Friday were smothered by a brutal Alfreton side on Easter Monday.

Chester were outmuscled for most of the game which saw the visitors largely dictating the pattern of play. Calum McIntyre admitted afterwards that Alfreton are good at what they do – stifling the opposition and playing for set pieces where they look to bombard the penalty area for their bigger players to attack the ball.

Wiley had their first effort, heading a deep cross from the right which Stanway tipped over the bar. Wiley’s central defender partner Digie gave Alfreton the lead when his left footed effort from another cross cannoned into the net off a defender’s leg.

Chester did occasionally threaten when they managed to get the ball down and play with pace. Peers intercepted a headed back pass from Digie in the opening minutes but could only steer the ball into the side netting. And City’s best move of the first half began with Burton and Woodthorpe working the ball forward for Tollit’s intelligent run down the left but his cross was too quick for Peers. Weeks and Peers had snapshots too from the edge of the box without unduly troubling Willis in the Alfreton goal.

The Blues’ best chance seemed to be to hit Alfreton on the break by attacking with pace but by and large the visitors were content to sit back and effectively absorb any pressure City tried to apply. After an hour Digie doubled the advantage when he headed home unchallenged from another set piece.

There seemed little prospect of City recovering from this setback although they cannot be faulted for effort. Norton and Murray came on to give fresh impetus to Chester’s attacking play with the former having the best effort of the afternoon as he brought a full stretch save out of Willis. Sadly for the Blues the visitors’ defence could not be breached and with the defeat their play-off hopes, though not extinguished, are much diminished. Billy Heath’s side had put in a strong and determined performance – strong enough to make them a good bet to win the play-offs in Calum McIntyre’s opinion afterwards.