16 points from the boot of ex-Chester player Lloyd Hayes helped Rotherham to a 5-point win on Saturday, matching the result from the corresponding fixture last year. On balance the result was probably fair but had Chester triumphed few would have complained after such an end-to-end game.
The home side opened the scoring early when Hayes landed the first of his 4 penalties after Chester drifted offside in the midfield. This was an offence the referee and his assistants were keen to spot, and penalties punctuated both halves.
When running rugby did break out, both sides displayed great handling skills and from the first such example, a fine miss pass from centre James Hampson found prop Tom Furnival lurking with intent in the wide channels to score in the corner. Liam Reeve, deputising for regular kicker Gethin Long, landed a fine conversion. This was followed by three points from an offside penalty after Jorge Lewtas was pulled down just short of added the conversion.
Chester came out of the sheds brightly in the second half, roared on by their coachload of supporters and the pressure led to points. Reeve added two penalties to push Harry Wilkinson's team out to a 10-16 lead. Another offside discretion allowed Hayes to kick his second penalty and Rotherham took the lead when debutant Ollie Parker scampered home after silky passing skills created some space for the winger on the blindside. A Hayes conversion and further penalty opened up a bit of daylight at 23-16 but this Chester side are resolute and skilful and with Liam Reeve dictating field position time spent in the red zone resulted in back row George Baxter forcing his way over to set up a grandstand finish. A late Hayes penalty and a tightened grip on the forward battle ensured that despite the valiant efforts of the visitors, it was the home side that prevailed.