The Chester Romans ended their season with their heaviest home defeat of the year, ironically the scoreline in no way represented the performance put in by the team, The Romans had statistically, by far their most successful offensive performance of the season. The team gained 196 total yards on the ground, 103 of those from Running Back James Tootle alone and also Quarterback Simon Gibson aired it out for 109 yards.
It was a must win game for Lancashire, The Wolverines (5-4) had to win to end the season as division runners up and claim a play off spot in the post season. With Manchester (6-4) having finished their season a week earlier and holding 2nd spot at the start of play, knowing they had a better points difference than Manchester and that a win would see them claim second spot, the Wolverines were fired up for this game.
The Romans received the kick off and Michael Wood returned the kick off 50 yards to the Wolverine 31 yard line. The Romans were unable to advance the ball and an error on the attempted punt resulted in The Romans being unable to kick the ball away and Lancashire took over on their own 39 yard line. Five plays later the Lancs offence used a reverse play to draw the Roman defence one way and their Running back scampered 25 yards into the end Zone untouched for the Touchdown, with the conversion added the Wolverines led 7 – 0. The Romans saw an 11 play drive come to nothing, despite a 16 yard dash from QB Gibson and a 14 yard run from Dan Richmond, and were forced to kick it away. The teams then exchanged possessions two times, when in the 2nd Quarter Lancs found themselves with a 1st Down and 10 yards to go at the Roman 11 yard line, The Wolverines opted to pass and despite a strong tackle from Jason Wilcock stopping the receiver, the Lancs player managed to stretch the ball over the line for the score, again the conversion was good and Lancs led 14-0. The next drive ended when The Romans turned the ball over on downs at their own 25 yrd line, The Romans who on 2nd and 7 appeared to get a first down but were marked a good half yard shy of where Running Back Tootle ended his run. Again they appeared to get a first down on the on-suing play but were again dubiously marked short by the line judge. Lancs took over in excellent field position, but strong tackling by Si Byrne and Aled Watson forced Lancs to fumble the ball which Danny Cotton recovered for The Romans. This inspired the offence who went on a 14 play drive, gaining 4 first downs along the way and facing 4th down and 7 yards to go at the Lancs 10 yard line, excellent line coverage and a precision pass from Gibson to JP Flanagan in the corner of the end zone saw the receiver grab his 4th touchdown of the season. The extra point was missed wide right and the score was 14 – 6 in Lancs favour. The half wasn’t finished and 3 plays later Jason Wilcock picked off the Lancs Quarterback, taking the ball over 20 yards back to the Lancs 30 yard line. Any hopes of the Romans levelling in the last few seconds of the half were quashed when a fluke play saw QB Gibson’s pass to his intended receiver tipped and fall into the grateful hands of a Lancs defensive player who ran the ball back over 45 yards for the Touchdown. With the kick added Lancs led 21-6 at the half, in a cruel twist which was a pretty evenly fought 2 quarters.
The 2nd half started with good defensive work by The Romans, Lancs had to punt the ball away and the Romans took over at their own 30 yard line, The romans opted to run on First Down and the ball was stripped from RB Tootle and Lancs ran it back for their second defensive touchdown in as many defensive plays!. The Touchdown wasn’t converted and Lancs led 27-6. The defence took over for the next 3 posessions, Lee Rose got two sacks in three plays just before the end of the third quarter which helped to keep Lancs out of the end zone. Lancs found themselves starting the 4th Quarter at their own 1 yard line thanks to an excellent punt from Jason Wilcock. However Lancs were able to mount a decent drive and 7 plays later from the Roman 35 yard line, Lancs were able to catch the Roman Cornerback unawares and a pass from QB to receiver was taken unopposed into the end zone, killing the game at 33-6.
Chester replied with an 11 play drive starting from their own 20, it appeared to falter on 4th and 12 when QB Gibson was intercepted but the Lancs player ran it back only to fumble which Ron Coram recovered for Chester to give them a first down one yard into the Lancs half. Three plays later Gibson found Michael Wood on a 24 yard connection which saw ‘Woody’ step inside 2 defenders sending one the wrong way and take the ball into the end zone, the conversion was unsuccessful and at 33-12 to Lancs the game appeared to be over. Lancs were able to add one last score, 2 plays later on a run from 46 yards out. There were several shouts for holding against Lancs on the play but it wasn’t adjudged by the officials and the game ended 40 -12 to the play off bound Lancashire Wolverines.
The Romans Offensive line had a good day against the Wolverines Defence and good blocking allowed Quarter Back Simon Gibson time to find his receivers. JP Flanagan was the go to receiver on the day, Gibson connected with Flanagan on 5 separate occasions for 61 yards. Kick / Punt returners Michael Wood & Glyn Chadwick are arguably the best return combination in the division, they pose an ever dangerous threat to the opposition and Lancs opting to kick it thru the end zone several times is a great compliment to the two Romans. There were several positives for the Romans to take from the game, but on the whole reflected what was a disappointing season, decisions which could have gone their way didn’t and turnovers proved costly.

Chester played host to Manchester in the penultimate game of their season. The Romans had come off the back of a shocking performance against Merseyside and into a game Manchester probably expected to show up and win big. This wasn’t the case the much improved Romans are clearly building for next season and several players had by far their best performance of the season and meshed together well as a team.


In a tight first half no team really got the better of the other, Manchester ad the first opportunity to score, but the 4th down pass was broken up in the end zone by cornerback Dave Rowlands. The Roman offence took over and put together a 12 play drive on the ground but hindered by several penalties couldn’t find a score. The Roman Defence then held strong against the titans, who were forced to punt it away, which went backwards for minus two yards. The Romans then took over on offence and again through strong ground work from James Tootle, Dan Richmond and Quarterback Simon Gibson, found themselves at the Titan 10 yard line, before fumbling the ball over to Manchester and wasting the opportunity. The Romans were soon made to pay in the second quarter when Manchester mounted a drive from their own 15 yard line which saw them move the ball to the Roman 5 yard line, a play which ended in Roman Jason Wilcock suffering a concussion and the ambulance coming onto the pitch taking Wilcock to hospital, the delay didn’t help the roman defence and the very next play saw Manchester break the Roman defensive wall from five yards out, Tim Barton going in for the touchdown. Fullback William Wakatega ran in the 2 point conversion and the Titans lead by 8 points.

Chester were unable to reply on their next drive, and handed the ball over on downs with under 2 minutes left in the half. The Titans expected to run the clock down to the half time break but on their second play Dave Goodall, who had an outstanding game, sacked the titan quarterback, forcing him to fumble the ball which Rookie Seb Tindall collected and recovered for the Romans. With little time on the clock the Romans had to move the ball quickly and their aerial assault took over with a 34 yard pass from QB Gibson to WR Glyn Chadwick followed by a 17 yard pass to Michael Wood. Running Back James Tootle then jinked into the End zone on the ground for a Roman Touchdown. The Touchdown wasn’t converted and the half time score was 8 – 6 to the Titans.

The Romans kicked off the second half, Seb Tindall kicking it seep into the Manchester half and Glyn Chadwick downed the Titan kick returner with a thunderous tackle on his own 10 yard line. The Titans moved the ball into Roman territory before the defensive players Barry Jones and Dave Rowlands recovered a Titans turnover to give the Roman offence the ball back. The romans went backwards on the drive and were unable to get the punt away on fourth down, The titans took over in excellent field position at the Roman 13 yard line. Two plays later, Dave Barnett ran straight thru the middle of the roman defence from 4yards out to extend the titan lead, with the 2 point conversion added the lead was 16 -6.

Chester were forced to punt the ball away on the next possession, giving Manchester the ball on their own 26 yard line. The Titans gained 4 first downs in 5 plays on the ground, before The Romans appeared to recover a fumble thru Dan Richmond. After the pile of players were separated and judging the situation, the referee deemed that Manchester had retained the ball on the Roman 32 yard line. Luck certainly wasn’t on the Romans side when on the very next play The Titans aired the ball out into the hands of a receiver who took the ball into the end zone and again added the 2 point conversion to make it 22-6.

The fourth quarter was a gritty affair with both defences standing strong, the game threatened to boil over at times and was again stopped so that an ambulance crew could tend to Roman Wide receiver JP Flanagan who appeared to have been hit in the back (following an interception) by a Manchester player, The Romans remained calm and kept their heads and Barry Jones ended the Titan next drive by sacking the Titan QB for a 12 yard loss and Manchester were forced to punt away. The Titans were called for an ‘unsportsman like conduct’ on the punt, Roman Kick returner Mike Wood let the ball go but Manchester decided to hit him without the ball and were penalised 15 yards for doing so. The Romans were intercepted on the on suing drive and Manchester ran the clock out. It was a close game which could have gone Chester’s way had a few decisions gone their way, The fumble the officials ruled not to have been recovered by Dan Richmond and with the Titans scoring on the very next play, this proved to be the turning point of the game. There were notable performances by several Romans, Simon Gibson finished with 5 completions for 99 yards, JP Flanagan had 48 yards receiving and Defensive players Dave Goodall & Ali Bult had their best performance of the season on defence alongside ever reliables Barry Jones & Lee rose. Chester now finish their season against Lancashire Wolverines at home on 24th August.

For anybody who has seen the film ‘300’ the pre-game battle cry of the Nighthawks before they took to the field was eerily familiar. Like those same Historic Spartans The Nighthawks took no prisoners and were a fearless & formidable opponent for the Romans and they exerted relentless pressure on Chester all game long.

The match was played in windy conditions, which also favoured the team playing down hill. The Romans had this advantage first but despite two penalties against the Nighthawks, The Romans couldn’t make many yards and fumbled the ball over to Merseyside on their 40 yard line. Merseyside took over for their first possession and for what would be the only time in the half, they couldn’t get the ball moving and punted the ball away. The Romans went backwards on the ensuing possession and JP Flanagan was on hand to punt the ball away. Three plays later and the Nighthawks gave the Romans a taste of what was to come as they waltzed into the End zone from 20 yards out untouched through a number of missed tackles. The 2pt attempt failed thanks to Lee Rose breaking up a pass into the end zone. The Nighthawks 6-0 lead was soon doubled. Chester Fumbled the ball over again on 2nd down in a similar position to previous and Merseyside took over. The Romans defence held strong and faced with 4th and 9 yards to go, instead of punting the ball away from the Roman 29yard line the Nighthawks went to the air and got their second score, again missed tackles being the culprit for Chester as the receiver strolled into the end zone between the Defence. With the 2 point conversion it was 14-0. Chester then lost Richard Colin to a dislocated ankle on the Kick off return and the bad luck continued as The Romans then managed to fumble the ball over to Merseyside again for the third straight time at the end of the 1st quarter. The Nighthawks moved the ball 54yards on the next 5 plays all the way down to the Roman 4yrd line where Andy Rose ran the ball in for a touchdown. Abysmal Roman formation left a wide open Andy Dyson with all the time in the world to haul in the catch and 2pt conversion with not a marker in sight making it 22-0. Chester turned the ball over again on their next possession, this time Quarterback Simon Gibson was intercepted. The nighthawks made it 30-0 with a 2 point converted Touchdown. A pass was hauled out to Graham Warby who was defended by a couple of Romans but the two collided sending Warby 54yards unopposed for the score, he couldn’t believe his fortune and that was how the half ended.

The Romans kicked off to give Merseyside possession at the start of the 3rd quarter, They drove the ball deep into Roman territory and a perfect pass from the Quarterback split the Roman defence for another converted score. The Roman Defence, with the wind and slope in their favour, got stronger as they have done this season as games have gone on and there was no further score in the 3rd Quarter.

It was the Roman defence that worked hard to put the Romans in position to score. Merseyside were forced to punt and ever reliable Simon Wainwright & Lee Rose worked together to down the punter on his own one yard line. The Roman offence took over and 2 plays later James Tootle ran the ball in through the Merseyside line for the score. The conversion failed and the score was 38-6 in favour of Merseyside. Merseyside then had 2 further touchdowns in the space of 9 plays, after their first score Chester again fumbled the ball over and 3 plays later from the half way line Merseyside scored again, 6 missed tackles by Chester gifted them the 45 yard score and making it 52-6. It was soon 60-6 as the Roman offence again turned the ball over and the tiredness of the Roman defence showed as they had been on the field the majority of the day.
The Romans have amazing team spirit, possibly greater than any other team and have always found a way to take the positives out of their defeats this year. Today it would be hard to take anything from this performance, The defence played well as a unit at times but buckled due to excessive pressure and the amount of time they spent on the pitch in fairness wore them down, There was also an air of expectancy when kick / punt returners Glyn Chadwick and Michael Wood got the ball as the pair are capable of big returns, a couple of Strong runs of 13 and 22 yrds from Dan Richmond on Offence but on the whole it was a depressing day for The Romans and a half hearted show which the Nighthawks severely punished them for. The only consolation for Chester is that this was their last away game and they now have two home games to close the season. Still searching for their first win, they now face bitter rivals Manchester whose defence have leaked points recently and Chester know realistically this represents their best chance to stop a winless season. Kick off is 14:30 on Sunday 10th August at Chester Rugby Club.