Gladiators tame Limehurst Lions

The game wasnt considered for the league results due to the no show of the referee so was refereed by the coaches to ensure the game could go ahead.

The game started at a quick pace with Dylan Yearsley taking some hard yards to establish a platform for the Gladiators to play off, LImehurst responded well and looked to be a stern test for the Gladiators defence before a superb 1 on 1 ball steal from Alex Woodbury gave Chester decent field position and Ben Turner broke through the defensive line before sidestepping a resolute and talented fullback to open the scoring Owen Hughes added the extras.

An error from the kick off saw Limehurst able to apply some pressure in the Chester but strong defence from Joe Wilcock and Luke Johnson kept the attack at bay until the spread the ball to their left edge and scored in the corner. It was then Limehursts turn to make an error from kick off and this gave Chester the ball deep in the attacking half. Debutant Liam Walker put a great tackle on the Limehurst danger player which fired up the Chester troops with Max Follows and Alex Woodbury combining to shut out a solid Limehurst attack. In the next set Joe Wilcock took the ball in before another deep line break by Ben Turner saw Chester extend their lead with Alex Woodbury adding the extras to make it 4 - 12 to Chester.

A really good kick off bounce awkwardly in play before finding touch allowing Limehurst to apply pressure and their number 9 who was impressive all game stepped the defence before diving over to make the score 8 - 12. Limehurst started to apply some pressure on the goal line defence of Chester and a early set knock on saw Chester camped on their goal line with Luke Johnson making 5 consecutive tackles to try to repel the pressure before the Lions attack was held out on the 6th tackle.

The weather conditions started to turn with the wind and rain increasing another knock on allowed Lions to test the right edge defence and they scored to tie up the scores 12 - 12. From the kick off Chester applied defensive pressure forcing Lions to kick deep that was collected by Ben Turner who returned at speed and carved through the line easily unfortunately Owen Hughes couldnt add the extras.

Chester started to throw the ball around a bit more now and Joe moved the ball to Chesters left edge where it found Liam Walker who ran a good 40 metres before a great chasing tackle brought him down but on the next carry Ben Turner split between the winger and full back to add to his impressive haul for the day with Alex adding the extras bringing the half to a close with the score 12 - 22 to Chester.

Start of the Second half and Lions kicked off deep where it was collected by Ben Turner who returned the ball 85 metres to score another try with Owen Hughes adding the extras. Some solid goal line defence by Harry King Magee, Peter Bennington, Dylan Yearlsey and Luke Johnson forced a knock on as Lions tried to get back into the game.

Oliver Holt collected a loose kick and looked to race away down the line but a strong tackle forced him out of the game with a broken Collar bone which is a blow to the team and the player as he was really developing his technique and offers a constant threat out wide with his pace. The club and team wishes him a speedy recovery and cant wait to have him back available for Selection.

Dan Tabberer was another player playing through the pain barrier with a injured foot in the warm up but you would not have guessed with his defensive display as he controlled his edge, Harry King-Magee showed his safe hands and strong running by getting the Gladiators out from their own line which set up a fantastic passage of Rugby League from Gladiators culminating in a brilliant flowing pass move out to the Left edge but unfortunately Carter Foster couldnt collect the pass from Hal Buick to score in the corner but the passing and running overall was worthy of NRL or Super League teams.

Ben Turner broke through the line again breaking multiple tackles and side steppng the defence to score his 6th try of the game with Alex adding the extras to extend the Chester lead to 12 - 34. Next up Lions scored again to bring the score to 18-34 Chester started to make good yards again with Joe Wilcock, Ben Calvert and Peter Bennington stepping up to bring us up the field into the danger zone and on the last tackle a deft little chip to the corner from Owen Hughes found a chasing Alex Woodbury who grounded the ball in the corner with the kick narrowly missing the target to bring the score to 18 -38, frustrations were starting to show and players from both sides needed calming down before play restarted.

A fantastic kick off again from Lions saw the ball bounce in play before going into touch but despite a great field position the Lions first drive saw the Chester defence hold up the attacking player and drive him into touch to regain possesion and see out the game with some safe hands and carries.

Overall another good performance that showed how the team is applying the elements being worked on in training to improve the game day performances.