Though dominant in the scrum, Stour’s lineout and breakdown play came under pressure, Chester forcing several turnovers which resulted in a flowing, evenly matched game in which scores were level at half time and from the 63rd to 80th minute when the hosts snatched a bonus-point victory at the death.

Tom Jarvis & Robbie Hurrell made welcome returns to fitness, but Stour were minus the injured Caolan Ryan & Nathan Bressington. As a result the back line saw a complete upheaval from the starting lineup at Hull Ionians, Jon Higgins moving to fullback, Gareth Bown to outside half, the returning Sione Tu’ipolotu to centre & Stef Cooksammy to left wing. Adam Sturdy took the starting spot at loosehead.

Stour defended the North end of the pitch first half, the low winter sun immediately a factor as the kick off was knocked on. But the Stour pack got a shove on and disrupted Chester’s scrum ball, Jarvis redeemed his earlier mistake with an excellent kick chase that recovered possession, but the Chester defences held out as Stour worked the ball wide to Cooksammy whose kick through was knocked on. Chester’s scrum conceded a penalty which was kicked to the corner but their maul held out the catch & drive attempt. Stour’s forwards got to work in the central channels, launching a set of drives that pulled in defenders before the ball was moved right through the hands of Bown & Higgins to put Jarvis clear in the scoreboard corner. 5min 5-0.

Chester secured a lineout in the Stour half & moved the ball right, recycled & drew full advantage from a missed tackle as the defences were forced to scramble back, loosehead Gavin Woods driven over from short range, 11min 5-5. The hosts’ lead was restored shortly after by a successful penalty attempt by Higgins for a side entry offence after quick hands by captain Nigel Mukarati had put fellow back-rower Eji Uzoigwe through a gap. 14min 8-5. But Chester struck straight back, outside-half Will Goodwin threading a neat chip kick over the advancing defensive line. The bounce and low sun combined to deceive Higgins, the ball was regathered by the chasers and worked to right wing Craig Ross for the simplest of run-in’s. 15min and the visitors in the lead 8-10.

The next scrum saw the visitors penalised again, Hurrell’s drive as the hosts looked to play advantage held up just short of the line. To the corner it went, Chester holding out but at the expense of a further penalty 10m out. Stour opted to scrum and shunted forward for the easiest of pushover tries for Drew Harper. 20min 13-10.

Chester forced a turnover & had worked the ball deep into Stour’s 22 before patient defence and smart work by tighthead Mark George forced a penalty as the tackled ball carrier failed to release. The respite was short though, Chester countered and forced a penalty in front of the Stour posts for a tackler failing to roll away, Goodwin knocked it over to tie the scores. 28min 13-13. Stour finished the half the stronger, forcing further scrum penalties in the Chester half, but handling errors & poorly executed set pieces preventing either side mounting any further real threat to their opponents’ line. Halftime 13-13.

Stour reclaimed the lead early in the 2nd half though a Higgins penalty for hands in the ruck. 43min 16-13. Chester pressed back though and were only held out by some last ditch defence, Mr Taylorson taking a dislike to a string of ‘red zone’ offences & sinbinning Cooksammy. Goodwin’s penalty levelled the scores, 49min 16-16. With a man advantage Chester upped the tempo and ran the ball around, centre Rhys Hayes going clean through as Stef Shillingford found himself covering a 2 on 1. Hayes’ pass found Ross who scored his 2nd try. 54min the visitors back in front and at last a conversion kick was landed. 16-23.

Cooksammy returned and the tide seemed to turn as Chester started to cough up penalties under pressure. Bown had been substituted and Higgins moved to outside-half, with nothing to lose on a penalty advantage he went for a rugby league 6th tackle-style chip over the Chester backline looking for a rebound off the post protectors. It worked a treat, Jarvis gratefully bagging his second try. 63min 23-23 and all to play for.

With a penalty award from the restart Stour kicked for the corner & pressed again but were held out. A suicidal attempt to run a kick from deep nearly ended in disaster, a penalty award for falling on the covering player allowing Stour to clear their lines. Chester came back with ball in hand and looked to have put Ross in for his hat-trick with a line-break but the pass had gone marginally forward. Stour finally mounted an attack into the Chester 22, spotting 2nd row Ciaran Moore in the wide channels Higgins hoisted a Garryowen into in-goal, Moore looked to have gathered & grounded the ball as it went loose but was ruled offside after a consultation between referee & AR.

Chester cleared their lines and, looking for the win, ran the ball from a lineout near halfway. They were penalised though for going off their feet near the Stour 10m line, and with no time for a lineout sub Bobbie Lawrenson took a quick tap and ran the ball left. Jarvis made big inroads down the flank, the ball was worked through more phases before sub Damian Webb found himself with an overlap to his right. His pass – the 30th in the sequence of play in the 8th phase - found George who crashed over in the corner to secure the victory and bonus point. Elation for the home supporters. All credit to the players, the handling skills in those closing stages were exceptional given how tired they must have been. Full time 28-23.