Ten-man Oxford City were edged out by Chester on Bank Holiday Monday as they were edged past the promotion-hopefuls at the Deva Stadium.

The game hinged on a crazy two minutes were the Hoops fell behind to Scott Burgess’ volley and saw Alfie Potter given a straight red card after the half-hour.

Despite that, the Hoops fought back and Isaac Westendorf’s equaliser upset the apple cart on the stroke of half-time.

Despite that, Chester’s pressure paid just after the hour mark, when Nathan Woodthorpe prodded home from close-range to give the hosts all three points.

Ross Jenkins gave Latrell Humphrey-Ewers and Brayden Daniel their first starts of the season, the latter awarded his full debut in the Hoops’ first team.

However, the bench looked thin with only five substituted selected due to injuries.

City had their backs against the wall in the first-half. They were faced with a Chester side that wanted to take their early season frustration out on the Hoops.

The Hoops had Sam Lewis to thank when he made a superb save to deny Declan Weeks early on, but on the half-hour mark Chester took the lead.

Another superb save from Lewis denied the host’s Connor Woods, but in the resulting melee in the box Scott Burgess was on hand to hammer home a volley to open the scoring.

That was just the start of a crazy two minutes, as just seconds later, City’s already threadbare side got even thinner. Alfie Potter was shown a straight red-card for a high-challenge on Declan Weeks after the ball bobbled over his foot. City down to ten.

However, despite the one-sided nature of the first half, City clawed back a levelled. Tom Leak took a heavy touch in the backline, and that allowed Isaac Westendorf to steal the ball and burst through on goal. He kept his composure and slotted the ball past Andrew Wogan to level.

His first goal for the Hoops, and he had a lovely chorus of boo’s from the Chester fans to remember it by as he celebrated.

Half-time: Chester 1-1 Oxford City

Defending with ten-men was never going to be an easy task. However, City had the first chance of the second-half, Westendorf again going close – this time with a shot from the edge of the box.

However, the relentless onslaught from Chester started there and then. City defended credibly until just after the hour mark when the host’s pressure paid. A cross into the box caused chaos and Nathan Woodthorpe was there to prod Chester ahead.

Despite that, Chester missed a flurry of chances to put the game to bed as the contest continued, which led to the tables turning in the last ten minutes.

That’s when City started to test the Chester backline, but again, the ten-men vs eleven proved too much of a mountain to climb. Ross Jenkins introduced Josh McConnell to the action in the second-half, and the youngster put in a solid showing – but even his energy and persistence couldn’t turn the tide.

It’s a tough one for City to take, but again, there’ll be plenty of positives and food for thought for Ross Jenkins going into Saturday.

City are next in action on Saturday, as we return to the MGroup Stadium to face Radcliffe. See you there.

Attendance: 2,137

Oxford City Starting XI: Lewis, Roddy (Campton-Sturridge 85’), Ashby, Johnson, Westendorf, Wiggett, Parker, Potter, Burroughs, Humphrey-Ewers (McConnell 78’), Daniel (Scott 62’)

Subs Not Used: Treml, Wilson, McEachran