South Leicester 3 Chester 20
No league points and no tries on a pitch which sapped players energy. Despite working hard South came a cropper after two successive wins against a team who appeared to have South sussed out
Chester's policy of kicking up field and following up at a rate knots rarely allowed South time with the ball forcing them into blind alleys which Chester capitalised on. The visitors defence was also solid and it became increasingly obvious it would take something out of the ordinary to break them down.
In retrospect maybe the forwards should have kept the ball and stuck it up their jumper and trundled their way up field playing keep ball, to quote Donald Rumsfeld it is one of the known unknowns.
To give Chester credit they executed their plan well helped by a couple of flying centres in Foden and Preston whose pace wouldn't look out of place on the track
A Chester penalty after 4 minutes opened the scoring. Will Sutton levelled following pressure in the scrums, where South again looked formidable. A further penalty restored the visitors lead, South thought they had scored following the packs pressure on Chester's line but Rhod McNaughton's try was ruled out for an offence seen by the touch judge. HT score 3-6
A converted try under the post soon after the break extended Chester's, lead 3-13. South had to deal with some enforced changes due to Wes Copes injury, Rhoddy McNaughton going to hooker and Mark Bailey coming on at loose head, this did not effect their dominance in the scrum as they continued to push Chester around. However another converted try involving their centres again sealed the match for the visitors leaving South wondering what might have been in this topsy turvy season.
Report Mick McNeill