Malvern 21 Chester 16

THERE will be no return trip to Twickenham for Chester this season after they were unceremoniously dumped out of the EDF Intermediate Cup on Saturday.

A shock defeat at struggling league rivals Malvern spelled the end of Chester’s involvement in the competition they won in glorious fashion on a never-to-be-forgotten morning at rugby HQ in April.

Head coach Rob Foden felt his team underestimated their hosts and is calling for a return to form in tomorrow’s Midlands One fixture away to Newport (Salop) – the side Chester famously defeated in the semi-finals of last season’s Intermediate Cup.

Foden said: “I cannot believe how a squad of players can go from one extreme to another in the space of seven days. I am partly blaming myself for what happened last Saturday as the players had underestimated the task before them and that to me is coaching responsibility.

“It will not be happening again and I can assure all and sundry that the team will be completely focused for the game on Saturday. We have no margin for error in the league.”

Chester had started brightly at Malvern and went into a 3-0 lead courtesy of a Tom Foden penalty. The visitors were in the ascendancy and forged further ahead thanks to tries from Gareth Coy, who powered over in the corner to score, and Sean Green, who charged down a kick and crossed the line with Ross White in good support.

However, a sloppy passage of play by the visitors in the lead-up to half- time saw the score go from 13-0 to 14-13 as Malvern were allowed the time and space to score two converted tries and claim a one-point lead.

Malvern now had their tails up and, with the spectators behind the home team, their confidence visibly grew.

After the break, they stretched their lead to eight points with a converted try and Chester – who lost Gavin Hughes and Simon Verbickas to injury – could only answer back with a Foden penalty as their Intermediate Cup defence ended with a whimper.