Dream comes true in Chester late show

Apr 18 2008 by David Triggs, Chester Chronicle

AS the stadium clock ticked ever closer to full time at Twickenham on Saturday, Chester’s dreams of cup glory seemed destined to end in heroic failure.

Trailing 18-14, Rob Foden’s underdogs had given everything, pushing Birkenhead Park – their rivals from just 18 miles down the road – all the way in a pulsating contest befitting of such a spectacular venue.

But just when Chester looked to be slipping towards a narrow defeat, up stepped a 27-year-old accounts manager from Handbridge to write the final, decisive chapter in the club’s thrilling EDF Energy Intermediate Cup adventure story.

There were only six minutes remaining when replacement wing Simon Love latched onto a stray Birkenhead pass in the middle of the park. Realising he had been presented with a gilt-edged chance to carve his name into Chester Rugby Club folklore, Love got his head down and ran – and ran, and ran.

Two Park players were left trailing in his wake as Love sprinted 60m before diving full length – one arm raised in celebration – over the try-line to put his side into a 19-18 lead.

Fly-half Tom Foden kicked the conversion to make the score 21-18 – and that’s how it stayed as Chester’s players defended like lions until the final whistle to crown the greatest day out in the club’s 83-year history with a heroic comeback win.

If only Aled Evans – the Chester flanker who missed the game after suffering severe head, arm and leg injuries in a work accident last Wednesday – could have been there. Instead he was fighting for his life in a hospital in Liverpool, but the big Welshman was in the hearts and minds of every Chester player all weekend – and his team-mates will take the trophy to him just as soon as he recovers from his terrible injuries.

The players had raised a glass of champagne to Evans on the team bus before the game, but once the first whistle blew, their minds switched solely to the task of beating Birkenhead. Flying high in North One, the Wirral outfit justified their billing as pre-match favourites by getting off to a strong start.

Chester began nervously and fell behind to an early drop goal and penalty by Park’s former Waterloo fly-half Tony Handley. Foden missed a 15th-minute penalty attempt before Chester finally got some points on the board with a 26th-minute try by Liam Lawton, who collected an inside pass by Simon Abeiro and skirted round Birkenhead’s overstretched defence to crash over. Foden missed the conversion by inches, but the 24-year-old would go on to overcome an edgy start and emerge a key man in his team’s second-half resurgence.

As the game panned out, it developed into a genuine clash of styles, with Birkenhead using their superior forward power to crank up the pressure on their opponents, who remained committed to playing expansive rugby.

Chester’s chances of victory were dealt a blow nine minutes before half time when lock Dave Blyth found a gaping hole in their defence and had just enough in the tank to finish off his barnstorming run with a try. Handley added the extras, but Foden made it 13-8 at the break by kicking his first points of the game.

The Chester number 10 added a further two penalties – one a monster of a kick, the other routine – early in the second half to put his team into the lead for the first time in the match. Birkenhead’s cause hadn’t been helped by the sin-binning of Blyth, but they roared back into the contest once the former Newcastle player’s return restored them to full strength.

Blyth ended a long spell of Park pressure by forcing his way over the whitewash, only for Handley to miss the conversion and leave the score at 18-14 – giving Chester hope.

Despite their minds and bodies being weary from a morning of lung-busting hard graft in the London sunshine, Chester refused to be beaten – and Love’s magical moment of opportunism in the 74th minute handed them a dramatic late lead.

Although Foden kicked the conversion to put further daylight between the sides and effectively win the game, the day’s defining image was of Love diving full-length over the Twickenham try-line.

As the 500-or-so Chester fans who saw it will testify, it was an exhilarating end to a cup campaign packed with memorable moments.

Birkenhead had played their part in a wonderful occasion, but Rob Foden and his talented team deserved their time in the national spotlight.

The city should be proud of them.