The game was played on a pitch with a most pronounced slope and, not surprisingly, with a history of producing games of two halves. So with Sedgley kicking off downhill in the first half, the message was to hit the opposition early and then try to build up a healthy lead, which would have to be well defended in the second period.
The league leaders immediately executed the first part of the plan with three tries in the first 11 minutes. In the opening salvo number 8 Rob Leigh made a great break from his own half. Captain and centre Sion O‘Hare powerfully kept the move going and was well into the Chester 22 before he was eventually overwhelmed by tremendous covering defence. However Sedgley didn‘t waste this good attacking position. When the pack took a scrum against the head, the ball was swiftly passed to the backs, where Freeman Payne broke through the defensive line before offloading to his co-centre O‘Hare to score. With fly half Dominic Kohler converting, Sedgley lead 0-7 after 3 minutes.
Almost immediately full back Phil Largan collected a kick deep inside his own half and sliced through the oncoming attacking screen. On reaching the Chester 22 he linked up with winger Danny Harrison who found Leyton Taylor in support. The dynamic prop rounded the full back in style to score in the corner. Kohler kicked a fine conversion to make the score 0-14 after 5 minutes.
Next Harrison executed a good kick and chase to take play back into the opponent‘s 22. When Chester lost the ball, lock Dean Williams snapped it up and stormed through the defence before offloading to Taylor to score his second try. This was a deserved reward for the hard working prop whose powerful surges were to prove a handful for Chester throughout the first half. With Kohler converting, the league leaders had made the perfect start with a lead of 0-21.
Sedgley were certainly living up to their reputation for champagne rugby. From a back row move from a scrum, flanker Luke Wooley broke from his own half. Payne and flanker Chris Leader kept the momentum going. Unfortunately the final pass was knocked on and a certain try was lost.
It was 20 minutes before the home side made their first attack, but they showed that they couldn‘t be taken lightly. When Sedgley‘s defence momentarily switched off, Chester‘s speedy left winger got clear on the outside, just evading the tremendous efforts of forwards Leigh and Taylor to cover across and cut him off. When he kicked over and ran into the last line of defence, the referee ruled he had been late tackled and awarded a penalty 5 metres from the Sedgley try line. However, not for the first time this season, a Sedgley lock rescued the situation when Williams picked off the Chester throw in at the ensuing line out. Scrum half Paul Urmston temporarily alleviated the threat with a good clearing kick to touch. But back Chester came. This time they broke through up the right hand channel and it took a superb covering tackle by Harrison to save the day.
Having shown their defensive resilience, Sedgley immediately showed they could attack from deep inside their own half. Having been given a relieving penalty, the forwards won the ensuing line out. The ball was rapidly transferred to the backs where Payne made the decisive break. Chris Leader and winger Paul Morris then took play into the Chester 22. With quick ruck ball Kohler penetrated the defensive line and offloaded the ball to hooker Paul Keyes to score close to the posts. Kohler converted to extend Sedgley‘s lead to 0-28 after 25 minutes play.
Three minutes later from a line out on half way, O‘Hare powered through and on reaching the 22 he found Largan in support. The nippy full back raced in to score an unconverted try and increase the lead to 0-33.
Shortly afterwards Chester opened their account with a penalty. But Sedgley soon hit back. Williams stole a further Chester throw in and Kohler put in another probing kick to take play back into the opposition‘s 22. Taylor cleanly caught a misdirected clearing kick and stormed through the first defensive screen. With quick ruck ball and swift handling, the ball was switched out wide to the left. There Payne made the incisive break before passing to his winger Harrison, who zipped in to score an unconverted try in the corner. That gave Sedgley the required healthy lead of 3-38 at the interval.
The second half opened with Chester on the attack and it took a terrific covering tackle by Wooley to stop a Chester centre from breaking through. When Sedgley infringed at a ruck, the home side missed a relatively straightforward penalty kick at goal.
Once again Kohler, with his astute kicking, forced the home side back into their own half. From a scrum Wooley made a great break and was only halted 5 metres short of the try line. Unfortunately Sedgley couldn‘t capitalise on the good attacking position as they were again penalised at the subsequent ruck.
Then Wooley made another stunning break from a scrum on the half way line and again was only brought down 5 metres from the try line. But Sedgley lacked a bit of composure and lost the ball when trying to keep the move going.
Sedgley had not been at their best in the opening 30 minutes of the second half but the timely arrival of the replacements pepped them up. From a scrum on the Chester 22 a perfect pass from Urmston saw Largan race through a huge gap to score under the posts. Kohler converted to make the score 3-45.
In the next ten minutes Sedgley had to withstand intense pressure. Throughout the game Chester had sought to play open and enterprising rugby and in this last phase of the game both backs and forwards tried manfully to prise open the Sedgley defensive wall. But to no avail, though it took a sustained and resolute defence to keep them at bay.
In the last minute the league leaders again showed their counter attacking prowess. Largan made the break up the right hand channel from his own 22 and reached half way before offloading to his support. Play was switched to the left where Payne made the opening for Daniel Broderick. The replacement winger raced up field only to be halted by fine covering defence a few metres short of the try line. This time Sedgley didn‘t waste the promising position. A clearing kick was run back by Largan, who kept his momentum going despite a high tackle. Quick ruck ball saw Kohler glide through the defence for a sparkling try, which was thoroughly deserved for the manner in which he dictated the pace and direction of the whole game. He converted to make the final score 3-52.
So Sedgley had kept their try line intact for the third game running. The victory meant that, after losing the opening fixture, they had won the league with 24 consecutive wins from 25 matches, with three matches left to play.
