Despite Chester dominating possession and territory for large parts of the game, Stockport had a great spell just after half time scoring two converted tries to go with two first half penalties to secure a 20 – 14 victory to go back to the top of the table.
The first half was a cagey affair with both teams having some good phases of attack but the defences held firm. Chester exerted some early pressure and scored a penalty but Stockport responded immediately with good running by Craig Cooper, wing Rory Price and full back Steve Pearson taking play into the Chester 22. Jonny Edwards converted a penalty and after Chester had moved to six points with a penalty, Edwards replied to make it 6-6 at half time. Towards the end of the half Stockport began to get some territorial advantage but there was a scare just before the break as Chester charged down a clearance kick and failed to ground the ball for a try.
The second half featured some strong running by Stockport players with Jamie Anthony making a break and kicking ahead, Steve Pearson followed up and hacked on and in the race for the touchdown the Chester defender pulled him back. The referee awarded a penalty try and yellow carded the defender. From the kick off flanker Nick Smith made a great run into the Chester 22 and from a subsequent lineout the forwards’ drive allowed Matt Bebbington, on for the injured Price, to dive over for the try. Edwards completed a difficult conversion to make it 20-6. Stockport continued to play well with some powerful running from No 8 Ben Davey, who had another impressive game. But it was Chester who dominated the final minutes, scoring a try, when the Stockport defence was overstretched, their fly half missed the relatively easy conversion and it looked like they would be prevented from taking a bonus point. However in the dying moments of the game a Stockport clearance kick was charged down and in the following scramble Stockport were penalised and Chester got the 3 points to make the final score 20 -14.