Chester 2 Warrington Town 0, National League North

Backed by more than 350 travelling fans, Town were up against it from early on when Declan Weeks drove the hosts ahead after just 12 minutes.

That formed part of a confident first-half display from the Cestrians, but Town stayed in the game and improved after the break without greatly threatening the home goal.

Chester’s victory was then sealed in injury time in slightly fortuitous fashion when Dan Atherton’s attempted clearance was charged down by Charlie Caton, who was able to roll the ball into the empty net.

The sides meet again in the reverse fixture on New Year’s Day at Cantilever Park.

> Read the post-match thoughts of Town boss Mark Beesley here

Read Matt Turner's verdict on the game below

AT this level, off-days will be punished.

Warrington Town have already found this out to their cost a few times this season and their Boxing Day outing to the Welsh border was another lesson in just that.

Like the trip to Scunthorpe United last month, this was another marquee day out for the club and its fans but unlike that day, they cannot consider themselves unfortunate to come away empty-handed as Chester showed just why their home record is so formidable.

Isaac Buckley-Ricketts and his teammates found it difficult to get change out of a well-organised Chester side (Image: Sean Walsh)

Of the 10 sides to have arrived at the Leap76 Stadium this season before this game, only three left with anything and only one of them – Hereford back in September – did so with a full compliment of points.

Indeed, they have not even conceded at home since October 7, all of which went to show that if Town were to make the short trip back to Warrington with anything, they had to be “on it” in terms of performance.

However, too many of their individuals were not at the races and Mark Beesley’s reasoning for changing formation went out the window once Declan Weeks had given the hosts an early lead.

Had they managed to keep the game scoreless until say half time, switching to a three-man defence may well have been vindicated but their best-laid plans backfired after the concession of a cheap opening goal – the usually unflappable Andre Wisdom ceded possession too easily to Kole Hall and while he did his best to retrieve things, Hall was able to set up Weeks to score.

It meant that Chester had the game in the palm of their hand and Town were forced to re-think their re-think after just over a quarter of the game.

While their switch back to their more regular formation had some sort of effect – they had their best spell of the game in terms of chances created just before the break – there were still square pegs in round holes and by the time substitutes were made, the hosts were very much in a comfortable mode.

Isaac Buckley-Ricketts is denied by Chester keeper Wyll Stanway in the first half (Image: Sean Walsh)

Town may have bossed most of the possession after the break, but it is difficult to remember them causing too much alarm to their hosts, who were quite happy to sit in an organised shape knowing chances would come on the counter-attack.

The Cestrians looked like a team who knew their plan, while Town looked the complete opposite.

The quirky nature of the National League North fixture schedule means the two sides will run it back at Cantilever Park on New Year’s Day, and it is evident Warrington have a lot to learn before then.

Warrington Town: Atherton, White (Grivosti), Hannigan, Harris (Popoola), Williams, Amis, Dixon, Buckley-Ricketts, Duggan (McDonald), Wisdom, Clarke. Subs not used: Goudie, Walker