ROB Foden has called on his Chester troops to up the pace as they attempt to bounce back into North One at the first attempt.
The Hare Lane outfit took on Stoke side Longton in their final warm-up game last Saturday and, despite seeing his team win 17-15, new head coach Foden feels there is still room for improvement.
He will be hoping his players deliver the goods tomorrow when they kick-off the new North Two West campaign at Sandbach.
Foden, who will be working under director of rugby Steve Donovan this season, said: 'When we move the ball quickly we look a good side going forward, but we must have the intensity in defence to win the ball back.
'We must play at a faster pace and not allow the opposition the time nor the space to play their game.'
Things got off to a bad start on Saturday when the team coach failed to make it to the top of Kelsall Hill. The players had to arrange their own transport to the game, arriving at Longton only half an hour before kick-off.
But Chester's players were in no mood to look for excuses as they aimed to impress their new boss.
Foden had already shaken up last season's squad, sending regular first-teamer Nathan Sandland Jones to the 2nds to face Birkenhead Park and introducing new signings Chris Keane and Gareth Martin.
Chester raced into a 10-0 lead with Tom Foden kicking a penalty and new skipper Sean Green sprinting under the posts to give Foden an easy conversion.
Towards the end of the half, Longton had closed the gap to two points as Chester gave away a series of penalties which Longton capitalised upon.
Green got Chester off to a great start in the second half by once again getting on the end of a sweeping move to score under the posts, making the conversion a formality for Foden. With their larger pack, Longton began to slow the game down but it was not until the final minute of the game that they achieved any success to make the score look closer than the game was.
Foden is trying to establish strong 2nd and 3rd team this season. The 2nds beat Birkenhead Park 12-0 while the 3rds narrowly lost to Winnington Park.
Chester (to play Sandbach): Hughes, Moore, Keane, White, Piggot, Legat, Martin, Sheene; Chappell, Foden, Green (c), Jones-Evans, T Donovan, Love, Verbickas. Reps: Worrall, Stevens, Apiero.
