Chester Gladiators moved into the next round of the North West Men's League Shield with a thumping 42-6 win at Division Four rivals Rylands Sharks A.

Gladiators, who gave debuts to Lee Rusowicz at loose forward and Tongan-born Tylan Mafi, made a strong start at Shark Park and built up an early 16-0 lead.

Tom Woods touched down for the game's opening score with Aled Davies landing the extras before Daniel Munt and Ben Stelmaszek crossed, Davies converting the latter's effort.

Rylands found a chink in Chester's defence to close the gap to 10 points but that was the only time the Gladiators line was breached.

Munt went over for his second of the game and winger Terry Toland followed soon after as the visitors moved into 26-6 lead.

Both teams produced some solid defence in a physical encounter but Chester continued to find the gaps and Paul Welch crashed over with Davies knocking over the two points.

Davies then found himself in the sin-bin following a skirmish but that failed to derail the Gladiators as Mark Kingsley crossed the whitewash.

Ex-Rylands youngster Jonny Rae touched down against his former club and Davies, back on the field after his 10 minutes on the sidelines, landed the conversion to complete the scoring.

Gladiators head coach David Kirby said: "Saturday was a great performance. All of the lads played well, however I still believe there is more to come.

"We want to win every game this season and so far it's going to plan. We executed all of the things we worked on in training and that's all we can ask for."

Top-of-the-table Chester return to league action on Saturday when Manchester Rangers visit The Cheshire County Sports Club (2.30pm).

Chester Gladiators summer coaching for children aged 5-11 begins on April 23 and will run on Thursdays until September.

New players are welcome at all age groups and sessions, which take place at The Cheshire County Sports Club, cost just £2 per child. No previous rugby league experience is needed and all training sessions are led by fully-qualified coaches.

For more details call 07512 355396 or email info@chestergladiators.com