CHESTER Romans saw their hopes of reaching the British American Football League (BAFL) play-offs effectively ended after their latest defeat.

Their 20-6 loss to Shropshire Revolution leaves the side fifth in the six-team NFC 1 South division with just three games to go.

To stand any minute chance, the Romans will need to win each of their remaining matches against the highflying league leaders Sandwell, second-placed Lancashire Wolverines, and basement team, Doncaster Mustangs, while also hoping for other results to go their way.

For Shropshire, though, they were able to recover from back to back league defeats against Lancashire and Nottingham respectively, to pick up their first win since narrowly beating the Romans on May 19.

After the game, Chester Romans Head Coach, Levi Edwards, said: “The result is not the one we wanted.

“It has effectively knocked us out of contention to reach the play-offs, meaning our focus is going to have to shift from the long-term to the short-term.

“The story of our season continued with our execution letting us down. Defensively, we were unbelievable, but offensively we really struggled.

“It seems to be as though one thing goes right for us offensively, but then two things go wrong, so we’re going to keep working on taking care of all the little details.”

Shropshire got off to the perfect start when they were able to intercept a Romans pass before going on to score a touchdown.

The score remained at 6-0 to the hosts as they failed to convert the point after touchdown.

Revolution were able to extend that lead soon after, though, as a catch from a tipped pass led to another touchdown before a bonus point was scored to put Chester 13-0 behind at half-time.

The Romans were given hope in the second half when the in-form quarterback, Byron Ward picked up yet another assist as his pass found Aaron Powell for a Chester touchdown.

A two-point after touchdown opportunity wasn’t converted, though, keeping the score at 13-6.

But it wasn’t to matter as a late Chester fumble led to Shropshire securing a 20-6 success which puts them third in the NFC 1 South division.

Elsewhere over the weekend, the Sandwell Steelers continued the scintillating form that they have been in since the start of the season.

Their rampant 48-0 win over the Nottingham Caesars made it seven straight wins for the West Midlands side.

They are now set to travel to the North West where they will face the Chester Romans on Sunday, June 30, where another win will cement top spot for Sandwell in the NFC 1 South.

Meanwhile, Shropshire will host a Doncaster Mustangs side who are aiming to pick up their first victory of the season.