West Park 23 Chester 33

THIS was a vital game for both clubs, Chester because of their still strong promotion hopes and Park because of their proximity to the relegation zone.

After missing an early drop goal, Chester took the lead with a try by full back Steve Johnson from a grubber kick by Kiwi fly-half Murray King who then added the conversion followed by the loss of Park second row Elliot Laughton due to a serious facial injury which will rule him out for the rest of the season and could end a rugby career extending back to 1986.

Persistent pressure led to a second Chester try by hooker Jason Goulding, again converted by King. 14-0 in arrears Park came back with a typical try, a good drive by Healey carried on by Wilson, Ryan and Gray saw winger Andy Roberts fighting his way over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Chester ran in two excellent tries just before the interval by Sean Green and their skipper Greg Parry both converted by the reliable King. In injury time Steve Bibby forced his way over after Wilson was held short with a half time deficit of 28-10, a seemingly insurmountable task to salvage the match.

Park had to be satisfied with a Strett penalty as Mark Nolan was sin-binned for a technical infringement. Further injury problems then caused Park to bring on prop Mark Taylor for fly half Neil Ryan, a hasty re-arrangement resulting in youngster Adam Leadbetter moving from flanker to wing. Chester completed their scoring with a try by second row Paul Campbell with King unusually missing the conversion.

Not outdone some good forward play saw Glen Fletcher add another unconverted try and after Strett had been late tackled after a kick ahead, Wilson took the tap penalty quickly for Steve Bibby to score aided by Sean Fletcher for Park's final try their fourth of the match, a spirited reply in the second half scoring 13 points to Chester's 5.

Next Saturday Park visit bottom of the table Sandal who however are staging somewhat of a revival defeating Morley on Saturday.

Other Saturday scores: Waterloo 3rd 5 West Park Warriors 24, Widnes Vets 43 West Park 19.