League leaders humbled by Chester
Chester .................. 12pts Hinckley .................. 8pts
CHESTER stunned league leaders Hinckley in an enthralling battle as muddy conditions in Cheshire helped produce a classic National 2 North tie.
Table-topping Hinckley had won their last eight games – a run stretching back to early October.
Meanwhile, 10th-placed Chester were looking to bounce back from a gutwrenching 21-20 defeat at South Leicester last week and get their season back on track.
Hinckley were firm favourites, but suffered an early setback as the impressive Alick Croft found his way over the line for a try – breaking the deadlock after just nine minutes.
James Robbins was able to coolly fire over the extras to make it 7-0 to the hosts.
Hinckley were on the back foot and knew they had a hill to climb, and their robust pack led the charge up front until the 20-minute mark when they managed to strike back.
It was Mitch Lamb who grabbed the try, but the conversion attempt went wide – leaving the score at 7-5 to the hosts.
The second quarter became a hearty forward battle as the weather took hold once more.
There was no shortage of effort and skill from either side as half-time drew closer, but 7-5 is how it remained at the break, leaving Chester with 40 minutes to defend their narrow lead.
And, as the sun set and the cold began to bite at Hare Lane, Hinckley could not find a breakthrough.
That was until 15 minutes into the second period as Callum Dacey notched a penalty goal to hand Hinckley a slender 8-7 lead, going into a what would turn out to be a dramatic final quarter.
Hinckley showed all the know-how which has taken them to the top of National 2 North over the following 20 minutes.
The visitors kept possession and managed the conditions almost perfectly to keep themselves in front.
But, despite a typically dominant period, Hinckley were unable to crack the home defence again as the heroic Chester side stood firm, something they would be made to rue late on.
Their one-point lead was still intact, however, and the hosts looked to be heading for a second successive one-point defeat with the clock ticking down to full-time.
That was until Chester poured forwards in the dying seconds to snatch the game in dramatic style – bagging a decisive late try to sink the league leaders.
The shock win will come as a welcome boost to Chester as they snapped a two-game losing streak to help steer them away from relegation fears.
They now have a huge contest ahead as they head to Macclesfield for a crunch tie.
Meanwhile, Hinckley stay top, but will certainly be licking their wounds before they welcome Huddersfield to Leicester Road on Saturday as they look to get their title pursuit firmly back on track.