Chester coach Jan Van Deventer hailed a 'gutsy' away day display as his side ran out 19-14 winners at Wharfedale.

In a season blighted by inconsistency, the visitors bagged a third successive League Two North victory in testing playing conditions in North Yorkshire.

Despite playing into strong winds in the first half, Chester were only 11-7 down at the interval after Harry Wilkinson had dotted down for a 24th minute try converted by full-back Dan Pemberton.

Unconverted second-half tries from Alex Croft and Mark Dixon wrapped up the points for Chester, who are finding form heading into the final six weeks of the season.

“It was a very tough match, but we come away with an excellent result,” said Van Deventer.

“When you go to Wharfedale, you know you'll be facing a strong side, but also tough weather conditions plus a hostile and very opinionated home crowd.

“To only be four points down after playing into such a strong wind in that first half felt like a small victory in itself.

“But in the second half we played the conditions very well and found the try line twice with some great rugby. It was gutsy from us and I really felt that the players manned up to silence the crowd.”

After languishing in the bottom half of the table for much of the season, Chester climbed to seventh on the back of their latest win.

And Van Deventer has been impressed with his side's improvements in recent weeks as they make a late challenge for a top-five finish.

He added: “I'm very pleased with how we've turned it around after an up and down season.

“We want to finish these last six league games unbeaten if we can and, looking at the fixtures we have left, I believe we have a great opportunity to do so.”

Caldy clinched the Division Two title in style with a 49-5 victory at Preston Grasshoppers, with the Wirral side set for a return to Division One next term.

Other results: Fylde 48 Luctonians 10; Huddersfield 15 Hinckley 24; Otley 29 Sheffield Tigers 32; Scunthorpe 7 Loughborough Students 54; Sedgley Park 13 Hull 10; Tynedale 27 Stourbridge 29.