Gladiators maul Mancunians

Chester Gladiators produced their best performance of the season as they crushed Mancunians RL 52-16 at Hare Lane on Saturday to maintain their place at the top of the RL Merit League sponsored by Kukri Sports table.

The home side opened the scoring after 3 minutes through forward Benji Marsh and winger Rich Hopkins extended the Gladiators lead in the 8th minute. But Chester suffered a blow with the loss of props Jim Green and Rich Owen to injury whilst centre Adam Pierpoint was also withdrawn.

The visitors’ bulky pack of forwards produced some strong runs but they were unable to break through the Gladiators defensive line and when centre Rob Massam scored in the 20th minute and added a further try after 31 minutes Chester’s looked set for their 6th victory of the season.

Debutant hooker Sam Edgar forced his way over the line in the 34th minute to put the Gladiators further in front although the visitors finally got off the mark in the 38th minute with a well worked try of their own.

Chester headed into the break with a commanding 28-6 lead and Coach Scott Hughes stressed the importance of starting the second period strongly. The Gladiators duly obliged as Hopkins weaved his way between a host of defenders to claim his second try of the game.

The visitors hit back after 48 minutes with a try in the left hand corner and began to work their way back into the game. However, Chester showed plenty of commitment in defence and rebuffed a number of Mancunians attacks.

The Gladiators struck a killer blow in the 68th minute when Massam collected a Sam Broadbent pass before outpacing the visitors defence to seal his hat trick. To their credit the visitors continued to push forward in search of a consolation score and were rewarded in the 73rd minute with a try from Rich Bringau.

However, the Gladiators were determined to finish the game strongly and the impressive Danny Harvey, who kicked 8 conversions from 9 attempts, scored his 5th try of the season in the 78th minute. The final word went to the prolific Massam who raced clear in the last minute of the game to claim his 4th try of the match.

Massam was deservedly named as Chester’s man of the match but Rich Hopkins, Harry Broadbent and Alec Read also impressed. The two teams will meet again on Saturday 11th July in Manchester and the Gladiators are running a coach to the game for players and supporters. Further information is available from www.chestergladiators.com or by contacting Chairman Jim Green on 07719 648724.

Chester Gladiators: Simon Quinn, Harry Broadbent, Rob Massam, Adam Pierpoint, Rich Hopkins, Daniel Harvey, Sam Broadbent, Rich Owen, Alec Read, Benji Marsh, Mike Davies, David Doneo, Martin Cormack (Captain) (Substitutes: Sam Edgar, Daniel Doneo, Jim Green, Steve Sandbach, Dave Thomas, Sam Wright, Ant Hallam)

Tries: Benji Marsh (3), Rich Hopkins (8 & 42), Rob Massam (20, 31, 68 & 80), Sam Edgar (34) & Danny Harvey (78)
Conversions: Daniel Harvey (8/9)

Chester 3-2-1: Rob Massam, Rich Hopkins & Alec Read