Carl Dale hit a hat-trick as Chester City revived their promotion push in some style by putting seven past a shambolic Fulham side at Sealand Road this evening.
The home side were on top from the outset with makeshift striker Graham Abel drilling an effort against the legs of Jim Stannard and the excellent Eamonn O’Keefe coming extraordinarily close to breaking the deadlock with a 30-yard drive that just didn’t deep quite enough. But City took the lead nine minutes before half when centre back Joe Hinnigan headed in his third goal of the season when he was left unmarked from Eamonn O’Keefe’s corner. Colin Woodthorpe made it two just before half time by sidefooting in a cross from Milton Graham.
Fulham came close to getting back into the contest just before the half time whistle when Doug Rougvie’s header beat Billy Stewart by was cleared off the line by the well-placed O’Keefe. It proved a fleeting moment of hope for the Whites, who were brutally buried by a clinical Chester side in a goal-laden second half.
O’Keefe blasted a penalty past Stannard four minutes after the restart to punish Rougvie for bringing down Dale in the penalty area. O’Keefe turned provider two minutes later, releasing Dale to delightfully chip Stannard to score his 20th goal of a superb season and give the hosts a 4-0 lead. The centre forward poked home his second of a memorable evening after Abel had outjumped Jeff Eckhardt to nod the ball into his second partner’s path.
Graham scored a superb solo goal, surging away from the remnants of a fragmented Fulham defence, before shooting past Stannard to make it six with nine minutes to play and Dale completed his hat-trick from a clever short corner by Joe Jakub. City might easily have had double figures – but they eased off in the final twenty minutes on a night that live long in every Fulham fan’s memory for all the wrong reasons.
CHESTER CITY: Stewart; Butler, Woodthorpe, Lightfoot, Hinnigan; O’Keefe, Graham, Jakub, Lane; Abel (Painter 70), Dale. Subs (not used): Wynne.
GOALS: Hinnigan (36), Woodthorpe (44), O’Keefe (pen 49), Dale (51, 64, 84), Graham (81).
FULHAM: Stannard; Eckhardt, Rougvie, Marshall, Scott, Skinner (Wilson 52), Mauge, Walker, Cole, Davies, Gordon (Thomas 52).
REFEREE: David Allison.
ATTENDANCE: 2,121.
