Alty Colts faced a really tough test on Sunday against an in-form Chester Colts team who were second in the table and on a five-match winning run in the North West Youth Alliance Development League.

The Robins were, however, boosted by the arrival of quality new additions in the form of Max Whittle and Rob Stanton and were delighted to welcome back goalkeeper Louie Fallon after injury.

Chester made the better start and had more possession in the Alty half, and they took the lead after five minutes through a bit of luck when a cross that was floated in from the left hand side looped over the keeper and went in off the post.

It was an unfortunate goal for Alty to concede, but their heads didn’t drop and they immediately pushed on to try and get an equaliser.

Just moments later, they were almost rewarded when Afernee Denise saw his effort blocked on the line by a Chester defender.

The breakthrough Alty were striving for came on 20 minutes when a back pass by a Chester midfielder to their goalkeeper was intercepted by Afernee, who kept his composure to calmly slot the ball into the net.

Alty continued to play some good football and Ben Taylor made the keeper work with a powerful strike from outside the box that the Chester number one did well to turn over the bar.

The pressure stayed on, and from the resulting corner, Alty nearly took the lead when centre back Toby McCabe saw his header go just inches wide of the post.

On 30 minutes, a great through ball from Stanton put Jack Chandler in on goal, and when a Chester defender desperately lunged in and brought him down in the box, the referee immediately pointed to the spot.

Up stepped Whittle, and though his kick was well saved by the keeper, Max was first to the rebound to bury the ball in the back of the net.

Both sides continued to play some good passing football, with Alty putting together a number of well-worked moves and Chandler, on the left, and Afernee, on the right, both using their pace to get in behind the Chester defence.

After the break, Alty made a change, with Charley Jarrald replacing Chandler, while Chester made three, in an attempt to force their way back on terms.

The game started to get a bit scrappy, with Chester going longer and Alty trying to hit on the break.

Chester were limited to some long range efforts that didn’t trouble Louie in goal, while, on 65 minutes, the Alty counter-attack nearly did the trick, as good work from Harrison Howells and Whittle put Afernee in on goal, only for his shot to go just wide of the far post.

Alty made more changes as Henry Murphy, Lincoln Goddard and Lewis Lambkin came on to replace Taylor, Oscar Cooper and Lucas Edwards.

Going into the last 15 minutes, Chester stepped up their quest for an equaliser and applied more pressure on the Alty goal, with a number of corners and long throw-ins into the box.

It almost paid off, with Chester's centre-back twice hitting the woodwork with headers from corners, but the Alty defence dug deep and made sure they kept their lead until the ref blew the final whistle.

A great win for Alty against a very good Chester team, with both sides showing some quality football throughout the match.

Squad on the day:

1. Louie Fallon

2. Oscar Cooper

3. Lucas Edwards

4. Teddy Woodland

5. Toby McCabe

6. Ben Taylor

7. Afernee Denise

8. Henry Murphy

9. Harrison Howells

10. Max Whittle

11. Jack Chandler

12. Lincoln Goddard

14. Lewis Lambkin

15. Robert Stanton

16. Kian Gonzalez