CHESTER were made to battle for the points in their narrow 10-3 home success over Yorkshire side Wharfedale.

With the visitors penalised for an offside at the ruck in the 10th minute, Chester took full advantage as Liam McGovern kicked the penalty to open up a 3-0 lead.

The heavy rain made playing conditions difficult and unconducive to free-flowing play from either side.

Parity was restored midway through the half when Robbie Davidson despatched a penalty for the visitors with a kick from 30 metres.

The only try of the contest came soon after some strong phase play culminated in a quick break away from the hosts with Andy Baston crossing the whitewash.

McGovern kicked the resulting conversion, adding what proved to the final points of the contest as Chester went 10-3 up.

A scrappy second half ensued, with the flow of the game once again disrupted by continual resets to the scrums with infringements from both sides.

Wharfedale  thought they had earned themselves a draw late on when they scrambled the ball wide from a 10- metre scrum but were held up on the line by a solid Chester rearguard.

Chester coach Jan van Deventer said: “It was a very disjointed and stop-start affair for the whole match.

“It was one of those games that was won by fine margins and really could have gone either way.

“I felt like the referee never really got hold of the scrum in the early stages and it continued to be a problem as the game wore on.

“The conditions made things really tough and prevented us from playing the attractive style of rugby we like to play. We were camped in the 22 for long periods off the game but we just weren’t clinical enough.

“We created the best opportunities throughout the game, but I felt we passed up some decent try-scoring opportunities by failing with the final pass.

“But in the circumstances I suppose you have to be satisfied with a victory in such testing conditions.”

Division Two North leaders Stourbridge maintained their imperious form with a 40-11 victory at Blaydon, while second-placed Tynedale remain unbeaten after a superb 29-10 success at Sheffield Tigers.

Leicester Lions prevailed 38-13 at home to Otley, Macclesfield lost 35-15 at Sedgley Park, Huddersfield beat Luctonians 32-15, while basement side Sheffield were defeated 35-26 at South Leicester.