Preston Grasshoppers RFC 21-22 Chester RUFC

Belief and resilience

This was every bit as tight a match as the final scores suggests writes Des Hickie. Nevertheless the Chester side showed all the belief, resilience and fitness that have taken them to next week’s playoff against Canterbury. Hoppers tried to outmuscle Chester. There was a fair amount of off the ball incident and some late-ish tackles, notably on fly half James Robins, but in the end it was not enough.

The match was played on a very wet and windy afternoon. Hoppers’ 4G pitch helped the players a bit, but the weather inevitably had a strong influence on how the game played. Chester had first use of the swirling wind and put it to early use. Alick Croft scored an unconverted try after only 5 minutes as the visitors drove an attacking 5 metre lineout. Hoppers came back following a turnover in midfield. They patiently built an attacking position and were awarded a scrum. Their scrum was already proving their most effective weapon, and a penalty resulted. Hoppers fly half Tom Davidson’s shot at goal looked on target, but it hit a wildly shaking right post and bounced out. This was a lucky let off for Chester, and was to prove vital to the outcome.

Hoppers power at scrum time prevented Chester making good use of attacking ball with No.8 Guy Ford consistently having to pick up the ball on the retreat. At the same time Hoppers attacking threat was blunted by the inaccuracy of their passing, with the ball consistently being put behind the intended receiver - partly due to the defensive press, but also no doubt to the wind. The home side was also beginning to get on the wrong side of the referee, Mr. Parrott. In the 25th minute, he first awarded Chester a breakdown penalty for holding on and then penalised Hoppers 10 metres for backchat. This allowed James Robins to set up another 5 metre attacking lineout. Chester did not secure clean possession, but Mike Craven reacted fastest. He grasped the bouncing ball and drove over for a try with two Hoppers vainly hanging on.

James Robins’ conversion put Chester 12-0 up, with enough time left to add to their score before facing the gale in the second half. James was then hit hard twice in rapid succession by two tackles after he had kicked deep into Hoppers’ territory. The second of these was by Hoppers’ open side, Teddy Leatherbarrow, who had been involved in several earlier incidents and now received a yellow card for his pains. During the remainder of the half Chester came close to scoring twice, but could not add to their tally.

Given the strength of the wind, a 12 point lead did not look especially comfortable, and it was quickly reduced to 9 by an early Tom Davidson penalty. Fortunately Hoppers’ lineout was proving as unreliable as Chester’s scrum, with some notable steals from Kyle Joseph. Approaching the 50th minute Chester mounted a strong attack through replacement scrum half Josh Morris and Centre Macca van Sertima. This led to a penalty and another 5 metre lineout, from which the pack drove over for Guy Ford to score an unconverted try.

The next half an hour was one of Hoppers’ pressure, as the visitors found it difficult to exit into the gale, and Hoppers used their scrum to win penalties and pin them back. This led to a converted Hoppers try on the hour from a driven lineout. Then, six minutes later, Hoppers chose to take a scrum from a penalty awarded near Chester’s try line. The scrum resulted a free kick. Hoppers’ No.8 Matt Lamprey took it quickly and barreled over for an unconverted try against a disorganised defence. Tom Davidson then added penalties in the 71st and 78th minutes.

Four points down with two minutes left on the clock, Chester were in serious trouble. However, the restart kick put pressure on Hoppers and yielded a scrum, which in turn yielded a penalty and a 5 metre lineout. The Chester pack first drove the ball, but the maul went to ground. There followed multiple, patient pick and goes from the pack, stretching the home defence to breaking point and allowing Josh Woods to cross in the corner for a bonus point winning try.