Chester 1-0 Tranmere

Chester beat Tranmere Rovers for the second pre-season running at the Exacta Stadium as Wes Baynes' superb strike 10 minutes into the second half proved to be the winner in what was a drab affair.

Rovers fielded a different team in either half which a number of trialists and youth team players given a chance to impress the management.

Owain Fon Williams missed out with a slight niggle so Andy Coughlin played the duration of the game in goal whilst the re-signed Danny Holmes made his first appearance for the club since 2008 at right back in the first half.

First-team regulars Mark McChrystal, Zoumana Bakayogo, Joss Labadie and Lucas Akins added experience to an XI which included youngsters Max Power, Will Vaulks and Ellis Appleton as well as sibling trialists Mabunuizia and Avanser Ngadrira.

Bakayogo started brightly for Tranmere, appearing to relish being back in his natural position of left back, marauding down the left hand side to support Appleton and cause problems to the Chester back-line.

The game never really came to life in the first half with a lot of niggly fouls meaning there was no tempo or flow from either side.

Labadie was one of the main culprits and got involved in a heated bust-up with an opposition player; a situation which was quickly diffused by Bakayogo. It was Labadie who had the first meaningful opportunity of the game with his snapshot palmed behind by goalkeeper John Danby but the corner was cleared.

The two trialists were doing little to impress though Mabunuizia Ngadrira was often left isolated from the rest of the team whilst his brother Avanser seemed to be playing too deep to have any sort of impact on the game.

However, this gave Max Power the chance to get forward and that he did with regularity though his shots did little to trouble Danby.

Chester still posed a threat and almost took the lead when a Chester forward was played in following a lapse in concentration from Holmes but Coughlin saved well and the danger was averted.

Labadie tried his luck from distance again just before the end of the half but his effort was deflected behind and the subsequent corner came to nothing which meant that the teams went into the break goalless.

9 substitutions were made at half time with Ash Taylor, Michael Kay, Robbie Weir, John Welsh and Andy Robinson being the first team players to come on.

Max Power and Andy Coughlin retained their places whilst trialists David Brown, David Raven, Liam O'Mahoney and Vinicus Arnaldo given a chance to prove that they are worthy of a contract.

Brown did little to impress and was often caught napping by Chester's right winger who enjoyed a lot of success down the flanks but was never sufficiently supported in the middle to provide any real danger.

Andy Robinson went close to giving Tranmere the lead with a free-kick from 25 yards that went just wide but another strike from 25 yards soon afterwards broke the deadlock.

Wes Baynes picked the ball up and drove at the Tranmere defence, who backed off, allowing him to find the top corner in spectacular style to give the Evo Stik Premier side the lead.

Robinson again went close with a free-kick but this time it was tipped over the bar by the goalkeeper as the League One team pressed for an equalizer. Arnaldo looked lively and shot wide after some good solo work but Chester still threatened and Coughlin had to be alert to snuff out any danger.

Former Sunderland trainee O’Mahoney thought he was in over the top after a superb cross-field pass from Weir but the linesman’s flag denied the Irishman a chance to score on debut for the Whites.

Tranmere almost played themselves into trouble as a hospital pass along the back four was intercepted but, fortunately, blushes were spared and the ball hacked away.

The defence refused to push out and kept backing off from Chester players which allowed them to come forward and shoot at will; something for them to work on in training for the rest of the week.

Robinson had another great chance for Tranmere but his first time effort was sliced following a bad clearance from the Chester goalkeeper.

Although Tranmere were providing plenty of pressure for the Chester defence to deal with, there was nobody gambling on the number of crosses coming into the box, leaving the Chester centre halves to clear with relative ease.

Despite incessant pressure from the visitors, Chester held out for a 1-0 win which will have delighted the majority of the 1,806 fans in attendance and given their squad a huge confidence boost heading into their next friendly which is against FC United of Manchester.

Tranmere will head to Colwyn Bay and Prestatyn over the course of the weekend looking for improvement on the performance at the Exacta.