Chester City 1 Gravesend & N 1

GRAVESEND & Northfleet maintained their excellent run of form in the Conference with a hard-fought away to Chester City on Sunday.

After beating Scarborough and Barnet in their previous two games, Andy Ford's men were hoping to make it a hat-trick of wins against former league opposition but it wasn’t to be.

Fleet's chances of victory took a blow early on as they lost skipper Jimmy Jackson with a shin injury mid-way through the period

However, with Paul Booth coming off the bench, the change in personnel didn’t seem to affect the visitors as they took the lead 10 minutes later, Jackson’s replacement heading home Tostao Kwashi’s cross.

Chester levelled the scores within five minutes when Ryan Sugden netted from near the penalty spot following a Michael Brown lay-off.

Despite injuries to young striker Liam Hatch (rib) and Steve McKimm (knee), Fleet assistant boss Phil Handford says it was a good result for the club. He stressed: “We were pleased with a point. Everything was happening in the second-half, especially the final 20 minutes, but we still looked dangerous on the break."