Anthony Johnson believes Chester ‘stopped the rot’ after a dramatic late equaliser salvaged them a point in their - draw at Guiseley.

The hosts, managed by former Blues boss Marcus Bignot, appeared to have secured three points when Scott Garner’s 88th minute header broke the deadlock.

Video and pictures by Rick Matthews

But defender Jon Moran’s 93rd minute equaliser ensured the depleted visitors returned from West Yorkshire with a draw after successive league defeats.

Chester’s joint manager Johnson said: “We’ve played four away games on the bounce. This will be the last one before a couple of home games and we just wanted to stop the rot before we went home.

“We feel like we’ve done that. Even with the performance, even though it was very sloppy in possession at times in the second half and wasteful, we felt that there was a lot of doggedness there that perhaps wasn’t there in the first 25 minutes against Telford and certainly in the game before.

“There was loads of doggedness, loads of resilience, we were tough, we were hard to beat, we finished the game with two 17-year-olds on the pitch. We had a lad making his debut. Jon Moran had his first start of the season.

“So for all the work you do in training, all the stuff you want to work on, actually the team that finished the game has just sort of been put together with all the injuries and bans and the issues that we’ve got going on.

“To come somewhere like this with their strongest side, playing the way they are, five unbeaten, and creating the opportunities we did but most importantly to stay in the game and then get something at the end - I feel quite proud.

“It was brilliant to see all the supporters stay behind and clap the lads, that was a lovely feeling.

“The main thing for us today was to stop the rot in terms of the last two defeats.

“Now we can look ahead to the home games we’ve got coming up and hopefully send our fans home with a bit more enthusiasm.”

The Blues made three changes as Steven Howson, Jon Moran and Dan Mooney all game into the starting XI, with new signings Sean Miller and Connor King both on the bench.

Guiseley carved out the game’s first chance, Kayode Odejayi pushed forward down the left, before squaring to Jack Dyche, but his effort from the edge of the area was off target.

In an open game, the Blues struggled to create clear-cut chances early on, with too many crosses going to Joe Green in the hosts goal.

The first real chance for the visitors fell to Moran, but he couldn’t keep his effort, on the turn, down, and it went out for a goal kick.

The Lions thought they had the game’s opening goal as a long throw was pushed away by Blues stopper Grant Shenton, it broke to Odejayi and his effort was blocked on the goalline before falling back to the keeper.

At the other end, Matty Hughes played Mooney in behind, but the Fleetwood loanee’s effort lacked conviction, and Joe Green was able to make the save.

Chester began to find their stride and almost took the lead through Anthony Dudley’s quick feet, but a strong block from the Guiseley defence forced a corner.

The best chance of the half for the Blues came on 30 minutes when Dom Smallley found Gary Stopforth, who played in Mooney, but he couldn’t test Green in the Guiseley goal.

Despite plenty of endeavour from both sides, neither could forge any clear-cut chances before half time.

Guiseley continued to look strong at set pieces in the second half, with Odejayi getting his head to a couple, but failed to work Shenton in the Blues goal.

With chances at a premium in the second half, Guiseley went close again. Cliff Moyo did well down the right, before crossing for Dyche, but he couldn’t hit the target from close range due to good defending by Smalley.

The Blues thought they’d found the games opening goal when the lively Craig Mahon crossed to find Moran, but the centre half’s header flew agonisingly over the crossbar.

Guiseley then spurned a golden opportunity to take the lead on 75 minutes when Rowan Liburd headed straight at Shenton from six yards out

Chester’s resistance was finally broken in the 87th minute as Guiseley captain Garner guided a header back across goal and it nestled into the top corner.

The Blues kept battling though, and were rewarded for their endeavours when Moran rose to head beyond Green to get Chester back level in the 93rd minute.

There was still time for the hosts to forge another chance in injury time, and Kaine Felix almost snatched the points when he rounded Shenton only for the covering Grand to clear the ball out and ensure the Blues preserved a hard-fought point in difficult circumstances.ake the save.

Chester began to find their stride and almost took the lead through Anthony Dudley’s quick feet, but a strong block from the Guiseley defence forced a corner.

The best chance of the half for the Blues came on 30 minutes when Dom Smallley found Gary Stopforth, who played in Mooney, but he couldn’t test Green in the Guiseley goal.

Despite plenty of endeavour from both sides, neither could forge any clear-cut chances before half time.

Guiseley continued to look strong at set pieces in the second half, with Odejayi getting his head to a couple, but failed to work Shenton in the Blues goal.

With chances at a premium in the second half, Guiseley went close again. Cliff Moyo did well down the right, before crossing for Dyche, but he couldn’t hit the target from close range due to good defending by Smalley.

The Blues thought they’d found the games opening goal when the lively Craig Mahon crossed to find Moran, but the centre half’s header flew agonisingly over the crossbar.

Guiseley then spurned a golden opportunity to take the lead on 75 minutes when Rowan Liburd headed straight at Shenton from six yards out

Chester’s resistance was finally broken in the 87th minute as Guiseley captain Garner guided a header back across goal and it nestled into the top corner.

The Blues kept battling though, and were rewarded for their endeavours when Moran rose to head beyond Green to get Chester back level in the 93rd minute.

There was still time for the hosts to forge another chance in injury time, and Kaine Felix almost snatched the points when he rounded Shenton only for the covering Grand to clear the ball out and ensure the Blues preserved a hard-fought point in difficult circumstances.