NEIL Young watched Michael Wilde plunder his third hat-trick of the season and then declared - there is more to come.

The Evo-Stik League leading marksman took his tally for the term up to 24 goals in 25 matches yesterday as Chester opened up an eight-point lead at the top of First Division North with a 6-0 home romp over Ossett Albion.

But when asked if he is running out of superlatives for his talisman, Blues boss Young said: "I'm certainly not!

NEIL Young was delighted to give Chester fans what they have waited nine long years for - a home win in January.

A wretched run stretching back 24 league and cup games was ended yesterday as a hat-trick of headers from Bradley Barnes, Michael Wilde and Robbie Booth swept Young's table-toppers to a 3-1 victory over 10-man Wakefield.

With Chorley not in action, the result moved the Blues five points clear at the Evo-Stik League First Division North summit.

Boss Young said: "They'll say the sending-off changed the game, but you can only beat what is in front of you and overall I thought we played quite well.

"It was difficult as once they had the man sent-off they shut up shop and tried to stop us from playing and scoring, which you can understand. But we coped with it well.

"So I'm glad to put an end to the January curse. More importantly it puts us five points clear, although there's a long way to go yet."

Chester had failed to win any of their previous three matches at the Exacta Stadium, but there was never going to be a doubt over the final outcome after Denton was stupidly sent-off in the 12th minute for swinging a punch at George Horan.

However the Blues had to be patient and it was not until first-half injury-time that they took the lead as Bradley Barnes glanced in his eighth goal of the season from the recalled Kyle Wilson's cross.

Barnes and Iain Howard were excellent in midfield, but it was impressive new boy Ashley Williams who was named the sponsors man of the match on his first full start for the club following his move from Airbus UK Broughton.

Young said: "I thought Ashley was absolutely outstanding. His touch, his passing, his overall play was first class - he really dictated the game.

"He's someone we've took our time with as we've watched him on four or five occasions. I thought sometimes he played within himself at Airbus, but I thought today he showed us what he can bring."

Well it's been a while since I posted on the Deva Fever Blog, so hope all those reading had a great Christmas & New Year!

How nice was it to see the Blues top of the table over Christmas, that hasn't happened for a while has it??

All that despite the blip and the weather contributing towards a distinct lack of games over the Christmas period - and a shame too as had the game gone ahead on the 27th December I'm sure we'd have seen a strong home performance against Durham City, but c'est la vie we had to call it off due to the conditions.

It was a shame the year ended that way, as it would have been nice to have finished the year off with a resounding home victory - but it wasn't to be, and December ended up a month to forget with the Radcliffe defeat and an exit from the Cup at Newcastle.

Overall though, what a year 2010 was, with the first three months of the year an absolute nightmare to be a Chester supporter with the club going into liquidation, but the emergence of Chester FC in the new decade was a beautiful sight, and once the rebirth took place there was no stopping the Chester FC snowball effect.

The first win of course was over the Danes - unwelcome opposition when we just didn't need another battle like that, but the Council saw that City Fans United had the best intentions for the future, and with a booming business plan to match, there was only one decision that would ever come out of that much anticipated day when the Council made their decision, and two days before my birthday, it was the perfect present!

The public meeting that followed then stirred things up even more, when the doors had to be closed at the Guild Hall due to the numbers inside, as the plans for Chester FC were revealed, and not long after the first manager was appointed, and Neil quickly went about bringing in a squad that he felt could get us promotion in the first season.

When you look at other examples, we should remember that success is not always a given in the first season, Halifax for instance finished outside of the play offs in their first season back, and only in the second year did they gain promotion to the Evo Stik Premier League, so to be sitting where we currently are, top on 50 points, 5 points clear, is a fantastic achievement in itself, and despite the results not going our way over the festive period, 7 points out of the last 9 is still an impressive return and will hopefully provide the springboard for the rest of the season now.

Telford are another example where in their first season back, they finished in third place before eventually getting up via the play offs, and even FC United finished in 2nd place in the league we're currently gunning for even though they had started way back in the North west Counties League 2, so if we do eventually end up as winners of the League then it will be a remarkable achievement considering this squad was put together from scratch last Summer.

We've also enjoyed many away wins this season too, in fact only once have the lads not won, and understandably so too in their first ever competitive game, at Warrington. Since then it's been back to back wins all the way away from home, and thanks to Chas Sumner for this one, the all time record for Chester FC is 13 away league wins on the bounce, so still another 5 to go to beat that, and where would that fifth be achieved? You've guessed it, Chorley!

We do of course have to get past Garforth, Leigh, Durham, and Woodley before we get to Chorley of course, but wouldn't that make the game on February 19th even tastier if it were to go the way we hope??

I'll sign off there, but isn't it just great that we're talking about records being set thanks to Chester winning games?

Ask any northerner where the best football is played - in the North or the South - and anyone born north of the Watford Gap will come up with only one answer. But are we all right?

I went along to Leatherhead's Fetcham Grove ground on Tuesday to put my instincts to the test.

Leatherhead, known as the Tanners, are currently top of the Ryman Div 1 South - the Southern equivalent of the Evostik Div 1 North. So it was a good comparison of 'like v like'.

It's taken a while to get used to the feeling of sitting atop any league, but what a great sensation it is!

And the moment Chester rose to the top of the Evostik North couldn't have been any better for me - as I had picked the away match at Cammell Laird as one of my pilgrimages from the land of the Exiles.

This was my second full away match supporting the new club and there's no comparison between watching Chester in the Evostik North than the sorry, old club in the Conference. This is a lot more fun!

Neil Young has made signing a new goalkeeper an immediate priority after Richard Whiteside was injured in the win that took the Blues to the top of the First Division North.

Chester's number one limped off late on in yesterday's thrilling derby victory at Cammell Laird and, with Chris Oldfield having controversially departed to Darlington, Young is currently without a keeper for Tuesday's Evo-Stik League Challenge Cup clash at Newcastle Town (7.45pm).

Young, who has reported Darlington to the FA for making an alleged illegal approach for Oldfield, said: "People may have questioned why we are pursuing Darlington - but they will know why now.

"Goalkeeper is the hardest position to fill and, as we can only offer a second goalkeeper's position, we're not a massive draw. So what we've got to do is find a good young kid like Chris.

"Hopefully Richard will be fit for the weekend, but I've got to get a keeper on loan for at least a month, just to cover in case he's out for longer."

Gillingham, Bolton Wanderers, Southampton, Burnley, Exeter City - sound familiar? They are the teams coming between the Chester Exiles darts team and promotion to the next rung of the darting ladder.

Yes, the overlords of the darts league run by the Association of Provincial Football Supporters' Clubs in London, allowed the newly-named Chester Exiles darts team to keep their place in Division Three for season 2010-11, despite their new identity.

Neil Young has vowed to replace the players he feels are under-performing after Chester FC blew the chance to move level on points at the top of the Evo-Stik League First Division North on Saturday.

He said: "I'm not going over the top - this is my job and I'm not prepared to put my neck on the line for those sorts of performances.

"Ultimately the buck stops with me. I'll be the one getting criticised - rightly - because I put the team on the pitch, but if I'm going to take criticism I'm going to take criticism for the right reasons.

Just before half time the announcer at Harrogate informed us that all the pies were already sold out. Rather mournfully he added: "You've eaten us out of house and home."

This lark of suddenly being a 'big club' is taking some getting used to but, I have to admit, I'm enjoying it. So, it seems, are my fellow fans as more than 600 made the journey to Yorkshire on Saturday.

Yet again we hugely outnumbered the home support and I felt a warm glow as I explained to the owner of our hotel how many Chester fans were in town. He was impressed!

We're 10 games into Chester FC's league campaign now, and so far it's gone quite well. OK, the team is one place lower than most fans would like the club to be, but it's early days yet, and there's still a long way to go to overtake our new bitter rivals Chorley!

It is easy to take for granted the fact this team, and the whole management structure, are all-new, given the players have won seven of their 10 Evostik Division One North matches. Possibly because in the last few Chester City FC seasons the squad kept chopping and changing every summer anyway.

Nonetheless, for Chester FC to maintain the momentum, it's vital the team keep putting pressure on the opposition. There have been too many matches so far this season where the first half has been a bit lacking, with the team unable to get a strangehold on the game.

It's a bit like when I was watching my 'other' sport, Formula One, through my bleary eyes at silly-o-clock on Sunday morning, to see Lewis Hamilton struggling without third gear in the Japan Grand Prix. And that, to bring home a slightly dodgy analogy, is what Chester FC are missing too. They are either right up to speed and scoring goals for fun (particularly via the impressive Michael Wilde), or they get held to 0-0 at half-time by Harrogate Railway Athletic, who currently prop up the table.

Minor quibbles aside, it's absolutely great to see how many fans continue to support the club both home and away, even after the initial novelty has faded. The initial budgeted average home crowd figure of 1,100 is beginning to look quite tiny...