Tom Roberts claimed a hat-trick of tries as Chester Gladiators beat Westhoughton Lions 36-6 at The Cheshire County Sports Club.
Chester's defence in the opening exchange set the tone for the remainder of the game as the Lions, who are much improved, struggled to make inroads.
Second-row Lee Rusowicz posted the first points of the game when he crossed out wide, although Aled Davies couldn't land the conversion.
Hooker Roberts then crossed underneath the sticks with a dive from close range and Davies converted for a 10-0 lead.
Chester moved 14-0 ahead when Paul Welch broke the line and found Joe Hickey in support and the full-back did the rest.
Roberts touched down for this second of the match following another burst from dummy-half and Davies slotted the extra to increase the lead, although the Lions managed to get themselves on the board on the stroke of half-time as the hosts went into the break 20-6 ahead.
Westhoughton worked hard in defence throughout but couldn't prevent Hickey going in at the corner to complete his brace and push the lead to 18 points with Davies not quite able to make the conversion.
From the restart, the Gladiators were in again as Paul Welch kicked the ball on and Ben Stelmaszek gathered before racing clear from inside his own half to touch down. Davies applied the extras to make the score 30-6.
And the last word went to Roberts, who again used his pace to scoot between tackles and seal his hat-trick with Davies' conversion wrapping up the win.
Chester have a big game this weekend with a trip to third-placed Manchester Rangers on Friday night.
