Recently by James Shepherd

In a weekend where I've watched Chester City take a draw from what should have been a win, and Formula One star Lewis Hamilton demoted to third in a race marred by a highly controversial stewards' decision, most of my time recently has been seething and occasionally blurting: "That was NEVER a penalty!"

City's increasingly solid course of improvement has continued with the home match against Bury, and it shows how far the club has come along in the past few weeks that the eventual score draw was viewed as something of a disappointment.

Especially when the first half had produced a performance worthy of a win. Mozika showed why a certain Championship club was taking interest in him when he deservedly bagged his first goal for City, with a well-aimed strike into the bottom corner of the net. Thankfully, the unnamed club's request to take the player on loan with a view to a transfer was soundly rejected, ensuring City will at least hang on to this star for a few months yet.

Unfortunately, Chester couldn't manage to hang on to their lead, as Bury player Andy Morrell theatrically tumbled to the ground in the City penalty area early in the second half. Despite the referee having a brilliant view of the situation, he still pointed to the penalty spot for what quite clearly seemed to be a dive. Or at the very least, this was the opinion of the vast majority of the City fans...

Several more 'debatable' judgements later, and City fans were pretty vexed, with manager Simon Davies later commenting the referee "spoiled" the game with "ludicrous" decisions.

The successful Bury spot-kick has meant Chester only earned a share of the spoils, but can at least take heart from a side looking visibly more confident and a world away from the messy start to the season. This is traditionally Chester's good form patch, where plenty of points are taken in the run-up to Christmas, so perhaps City can continue their form and grab something against Grimsby next time out.

Here's the latest offering from new Deva Fever blogger, Madowl Blue...

IT'S been an increasingly anxious wait, but Chester City recorded their first points of the season on Saturday - and what a way to earn them!

For the minuscule, yet dedicated home crowd of little more than 1,200 Chester fans, the 5-1 trouncing against Barnet was just reward for witnessing several inadequate displays by the team, not only this season but also throughout most of last season.

I must confess, I was not one of those who made the journey to the Deva Stadium, as one of several who could not face spending £15 and 90 minutes on several frustrating, sometimes fruitless, Saturday afternoons, glaring at the squad and willing that ball to at least make it into the vicinity of the opposition's goalmouth.

So, taking the rather more cushy route of unwinding at home with a can of some alcoholic beverage, I put my feet up and watched all the action unfold on Soccer Saturday instead.

As a result, I nearly fell off my chair several times as I kept scrambling up to the television screen whenever a Chester goal flashed up. At half-time, the usually unflappable Jeff Stelling became slightly flustered as the videprinter stuttered, spluttered and ground to a halt. Rumours that it had crashed because it was unable to comprehend why Chester still had a clean sheet by this time are unfounded.

And with each goal that poured in for Chester (and seeing Jeff increasingly stress each City goal as it appeared on screen), I began to regret not paying my visit to the Deva Stadium. The same had occurred last season, when I'd left it too late to see them play Dagenham & Redbridge at home. Chester then, of course, went on to win 4-0 in my absence.

So, lesson learned and with fresh optimism, I shall be joining the small but defiant band of supporters who've kept the faith during the club's terrible start to the season, for the next home match against Bury. Whether the result was a flash in the pan or the start of sustained success is unknown, but surely the latter is the least the fans deserve.

Deva Fever welcomes a new blogger to the fold - Madowl Blue. And here's his first blog...

Reasons to believe!

THERE are times when being a Chester City fan is a trying ordeal, not least when you've watched your side begin the new season on such a low.

With 11 goals conceded in the first two matches, including a shocking 6-0 defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge and a 5-2 Carling Cup defeat against a Leeds side that had the game wrapped up comfortably with 35 minutes on the clock, the new campaign could hardly have begun worse for the Blues.

Rumours of a half-time heated scuffle in the Chester dressing room at the Leeds game will not have done anything to improve the currently gloomy climate surrounding the Deva Stadium.

But there are still glimmers of hope. Faint glimmers, admittedly, but a couple of facts that may suggest all is not lost just yet.

Firstly, the second half of the Carling Cup game did see a much-improved City display, and technically they did 'win' that half 1-0, albeit against a Leeds side that had taken their foot off the gas. Nonetheless, spells of fluid passing in the midfield was an encouraging sign, and is a marked change from some of the route one tactics employed by previous managers.

Secondly, it isn't like these kind of results haven't happened before - City were thrashed 5-1 by Wolves in the first round of the Carling Cup in 2005, but few fans grumbled. Yes, Wolves were and are a Championship side when the Blues visited their ground, but so too would Leeds be now, had they not been deducted 15 points at the beginning of last season.

It's also worth remembering that City conceded six against Dagenham last season, yet in the return fixture that season Chester won 4-0. Form can easily turn around in this division.

Finally, there may be a useful boost to City's coffers, in addition to the Sky TV money from the Leeds match broadcast. Former Chester City striker and current Ipswich Town hotshot Jon Walters may be on his way to Stoke this month, for a fee rumoured to be in the region of £3m.

Should the move go ahead, Chester could find the sell-on clause they had negotiated when Walters moved on could pay off big time, with a cash injection of several hundred thousand pounds - more than enough to pay for a strengthened defence!

So with 45 league games to go in this season, an awful lot can still change. Things can only get better...