Josh Woods (pictured), was named as Player of the Match, by interim RFU chairman Sir Bill Beaumont, as Chester kept Fylde at bay over 80 minutes in front of a large appreciative crowd at Hare Lane on Saturday.
Four weeks after the last game, Chester started strongly and breached the visitors try-line after just 3 minutes following some aggressive driving play and a smart turnover in the Fylde 22. Safe hands saw wing Dafydd Williams dot down with Sam Rogers adding the conversion off the post.
In a manner that was present throughout the game, Chester harried the Fylde players when in possession, forcing handling errors and misplaced passes. One such error 4 minutes later saw Williams scoop up a loose ball to scamper over wide out from 30m out. This time Rogers was wide with the conversion.
Fylde's attacking opportunities came largely from catch and drives following lineouts close to the Chester try-line. Penalty infringements allowed Fylde fly-half Bishop to position his forwards deep into the 22 and on 11 minutes, hooker Parker dived over to put the visitors on the scoreboard for the first time.
Chester extended their lead to 14 points when Sam Earl-Jones marked his 1st XV home debut with a try as he danced through the stretched Fylde defence to score under the posts, with Rogers adding the extras.
Not to be outdone, and ensuring Chester knew Fylde would continue to present a threat, replacement hooker Davis matched his teammate by converting a catch and drive from post-penalty lineout, just squeezing in the corner. Bishop landed an impressive conversion.
Just before half-time Sam Rogers was successful with a penalty, leaving the score 22 - 12 at the break.
Strong words at halftime galvanised the visitors and their strong start to the second half was rewarded almost immediately, second row Garrod making a nuisance of himself to charge down a clearance kick after Chester had done well to turnover a threatening Fylde attack, and winning the race to touchdown. Another good conversion saw Fylde up to within a penalty kick and very much on the front foot.
Chester's defence in the remainder of the second half was immense, ably led by No8 Dave Jones and skipper Ben Ivory. To keep Fylde honest, Josh Woods continued to carry the ball hard in the close areas and provide a target for his hard working team mates. A long range penalty from Earl-Jones on 61 minutes completed the scoring, and, not without some alarms, Chester's defensive effort was rewarded with a hard-earned victory.