Chester Gladiators stormed into the North West Men’s League Shield final with an emphatic 70-12 semi-final defeat of Orrell St James A.

Chester remain on course for a double as the Division Four leaders produced a ruthless performance to beat an Orrell team who were far more competitive than the scoreline suggests.

With ball in hand, the Gladiators rediscovered a clinical edge that had been missing over the previous month and finished off scoring opportunities to run out convincing winners and secure the club’s first crack at a final.

Orrell had a decent amount of possession but found Chester’s defence in determined mood, restricting the visitors to two tries at Helsby RUFC on Saturday.

Chester welcomed back second-row Tom Woods after a month on the sidelines with a knee problem, recalled teenager Ryan Turner and gave a first start to centre Winston Reilly, who has been in good form for the club’s second string.

Loose forward Ben Stelmaszek led the scoring charge with four tries but the most impressive contribution came from new signing Billy Brickhill, who was outstanding at dummy-half.

Prolific centre Jonny Rae helped himself to a brace of tries and there were further scores for fullback Cameron Hogg, half-back Aled Davies and one for Brickhill.

Further tries from Tom Roberts, Mike Walker, Reilly and Turner completed the scoring to send the Gladiators through.

Chester will face Garswood Stags in the final on September 19.