Director of rugby Nic Corrigan admitted Chester had failed to deliver the performance their supporters deserved after they fell to a second successive league defeat.
Having seen their unbeaten start to the campaign ended by Sedgley Park the previous week, Chester were edged out by an experienced Macclesfield side at Hare Lane on Saturday, October 12 leaving Corrigan bemoaning the lack of a clinical edge.
Corrigan said: “We need to be better in that respect. We have just got to be more clinical in attack.
“I look at our crowds, and the numbers we are getting. We are attracting three or four hundred more fans than most other teams, and I don’t think we have given our fans a performance against either Sedgley Park or Macclesfield.
“To lose by such a narrow margin on Saturday is gutting. But when we boil it down, it is three or four errors that have cost us the game. Those are the fine margins we are dealing with in this league.”
Corrigan will look to address his side’s attacking flaws before this Saturday’s trip to Leicester Lions, and says that fear could be playing a part in their struggles at the moment.
He added: “I think maybe one or two of our players are a little bit overly-concerned about results at the moment, and they are not playing with the freedom I want them to.
“That is something I will need to look at addressing. I am in charge of our attacking play, and it is down to me to find the answers.
“It is not just the backs, but the forwards also. We play 15-man attacking rugby, and to do that we have to function properly as a team, and we have to play with freedom and confidence.
“It sounds daft, but I will ask the players just to go out and play on Saturday, and not to be weighed down by fear.
“In fairness, there were one or two good signs on Saturday. I asked for a performance from the players after the defeat the previous weekend, and to a degree I thought we got that.
“We have to prove to ourselves that we can compete at this level, every single week. Macclesfield are a good side, a physical team, and we were always in the game against them. Our discipline has improved massively over the course of this season, I have to say.
“Overall, I’m pretty content with where we are at currently, if not necessarily how we are playing. But as I say, we are working with fine margins, and it can easily change.”
Corrigan anticipates a testing fixture at Leicester this weekend. Lions currently sit ninth in the SSE National League Two North table, three points behind Chester.
“They’re a typical Leicester, East Midlands type of team,” said Corrigan. “They’ve been in this league since 2005, and more often than not they have been up at the top end challenging.
“They have earned a lot of respect at this level, but we have to go and get their respect on Saturday. We have to stand up to them and impose our game on them. That is the challenge I will be setting our players.
“It’s about getting our combinations to work. There are no guaranteed places in our team, so all the players have to work hard and earn their spot in the team.
“We will prepare for a physical test on Saturday, against a very solid outfit. “We have everyone fully fit and available, which helps.”
In the North West Intermediate Leagues, Chester 2nds ran out 53-15 winners over Burnage 2nds. Tom Okell and Tom Evans were to the fore, scoring two tries apiece, while Ash Phillips was named man of the match. Christleton drew 15-15 at Bowdon 2nds.
