In September these two teams fought out a forgettable game at Hare Lane, with Chester coming out as 8-5 winners. Last Saturday in the reverse fixture in Sheffield there was no change to the script. Two tries from second-row Mike Byrne were enough to give Chester their first away win since October. Sheffield, off the back of 7 consecutive defeats, were looking to use home advantage to get their season back on track.
On a firm pitch but having to deal with a strong wind, it was Chester who started brightly and on 16 minutes, a driven lineout allowed Byrne to sneak in and dot down just before being bundled into the corner flag. The conversion attempt from Gethin Long was unsuccessful.
After a rare moment of incisive running and handling Sheffield took a first half lead when centre Christian Hooper took advantage of a planned back move to sprint through an alarming gap in the Chester defence and score under the posts. With the conversion a formality from Elliott Fisher, Chester would have to come from behind in the second half.
It only took 3 minutes for that to become a reality as, once again, from a forward drive Byrne burrowed his way to the line for a second unconverted try. With such a small gap in the score and with over half an hour to play, the home side would have fancied their chances at overturning their poor run of results. However, stern defence from Harry Wilkinson's team plus excellent tactical substitutions aimed at keeping the pressure on Sheffield was enough to give Chester a welcome victory.
pic credit: Sheffield RFC