By Louii Clarkson.
Chester progressed through to the semi-finals of the National League North playoffs after a 2-1 victory over Buxton Athletic, it took a dramatic extra time winner from Harrison Burke to see The Seals over the line after Iwan Murray struck after eight minutes.
It was a party atmosphere in The Deva Stadium with over 4,000 fans in attendance, the highest recorded attendance in years.
Following the win over Buxton, Chester have booked themselves a semi-final fixture against Kidderminster Harriers.
The semi-final against Kidderminster Harriers is scheduled for Sunday 4th May, kick off 3pm. The travelling Chester supporters have been given an allocation of 1,300 as they look to book their date with destiny.
Chester came into the game on a five-match winning streak, taking out fellow play-off side Kings Lynn Town and top half side Darlington on route. Kidderminster Harriers are also on decent form coming into the semi-final, winning three out of their last five games in the league.
Kidderminster Harriers’ main threat is their attack with Ashley Hemmings leading the line, Hemmings has scored thirty goals in the league this season more than anybody in both the north and south divisions. If Chester are to go through, keeping him as quiet as possible is the key. Chester’s centre back Harrison Burke is the main man at the back for The Seals, that is a key battle to keep an eye out for.
If Chester were to progress through to the playoff final, they would face either Scunthorpe or Chorley who face each other on 3rd May.
Scunthorpe were favourites for automatic promotion up until the latter stages of the National League North season however, with three 1-nil losses in their last eight league games they missed out on the automatic promotion to Brackley Town by just 2 points. They are now heavy favourites to win the playoffs with their semi-final being a home tie due to their league position. Kidderminster are also at home for this reason.
Chorley beat out Kings Lynn Town in their playoff quarter final to book their place in the semi-final against playoff favourites Scunthorpe. Chorley are another team on form coming into the semi-final scoring five goals in two of their last three games.
The playoff final is set for Sunday 18th May leaving both finalists two weeks to prepare for the grudge match; the match will be played at a neutral ground which is yet to be announced by the FA.
The winners of both the north and south National League will join Brackley Town and Truro City in the National League for the 25/26 season.
Ebbsfleet United and AFC Fylde are the two teams guaranteed to be relegated into the north and south divisions respectively with Dagenham & Redbridge, Wealdstone and Maidenhead United fighting to stay out of the last two relegation spots ahead of the last game of the league season.
