NEIL YOUNG today looked back on what should have been after watching Chester held to a 2-2 home draw against Frickley Athletic.
The Blues boss admitted he had been disappointed to see his side drop two home points for the first time since Chester's opening day 1-1 draw against Rushall Olympic.
Goals by striker Jamie Rainford and defender Matty McGinn secured the Blues a share of the spoils after Chester had trailed twice to their visitors.
The Blues remain three points behind Premier Division leaders Northwich Victoria who were held to a goalless home draw by Matlock Town.
“We didn't play well, but we had enough chances in the last 10-15 minutes to have won the match,” Young said.
“Frickley came to sit in and try and hit us on the break, but we couldn't legislate for their first goal which looked like a definite penalty.
“We didn't play great, but we were in a catch 22 situation at the start of the day because I would have liked Matty McNeil to have started, but his back problem is still causing a concern, so I named him as a substitute and started with Michael Wilde and Jamie Rainford in attack.
“I thought we knocked at the door but we got punished for our poor finishing.
“Frickley got what they had come for and many other teams will come to Chester and try and do the same.
“We made the wrong decisions in front of goal and we failed to keep the back door shut.”
Young, who named Christian Smith in his starting line-up in place of suspended midfielder Michael Powell, praised his two goalscorers.
He added: “I thought Jamie (Rainford) and Matty (McGinn) both scored great goals, but we overplayed at times and I thought we played too many passes either backwards or sideways.
“It was disappointing to see Alex Brown picking up an injury before half time, but Robbie Booth came on at the start of the second half and did well.
“We looked lively on the break but we were too sloppy and open at times.
“I decided to give it a go before we got our second goal and we looked in the ascendancy.
“In the end I thought we could have easily gone on and won the game because we created many goalscoring chances towards the end of the match.
“It's obviously disappointing to only see us picking up a point, but we must stick to our principles as we prepare for Wednesday's league match at Bradford Park Avenue.”
Young is hoping that midfielder Alex Brown can recover from a leg injury in time for Wednesday night's league match at Bradford Park Avenue who celebrated a 2-0 FA Cup fourth qualifying round weekend victory at Kidsgrove Athletic.
He said: “I'm not sure how bad Alex's injury is, but I'm hoping he will be available to play against Bradford.
“I've just got 16 outfield players and two goalkeepers in my squad, so I can't afford to lose any players to injuries. Chris Simm is still playing with a cast on his broken wrist because he wants to be involved in every game we play, and Matty needs to be protected longer term with his back strain.
“But it was good to see Wildey getting 90 minutes under his belt after recovering from a broken collarbone and an ankle injury.”