Nic Corrigan is preparing for  what he expects will be a ‘hugely  important’ October for Chester  RFC as they look to maintain  their challenge at the top of the  SSE National League Two North  table.

Chester maintained their 100%  start to the season with a hard-fought  31-21 victory over Sheffield on Saturday, September 28.

Two tries apiece from Rhys Hayes  and Tom Foden did the damage, and  the result leaves them hot on the heels  of Stourbridge and Macclesfield, who  are one point ahead.

Corrigan’s side face both of those  sides in the next four weeks, as well as  a tough trip to face Leicester Lions.

They entertain Sedgley Park at  Hare Lane this Saturday, and Corrigan is anticipating a testing month  for his men.

The director of rugby said: “It will  be a hugely important month for us.  We have a lot of big games in there,  and if we are serious about earning  respect at this level, then we have to  target these games and look to get  some big results.

“We’ve had a good start to the season, and we are happy with how  results have gone, but that’s all it is –  a start. We know we can still improve  in just about every area of the field,  and we will look to do that over the  next few days ahead of a tough game  against Sedgley Park.”

Corrigan added: “The result at Sheffield was very good, but our performance was not. That’s not me  being too critical, just us knowing the  high standards that we set  ourselves.

“We are taking things one game at a  time at the moment, and just trying to  keep improving. We know we have to  take the game to teams, and that’s  what we will always look to do.

“It may be a bit of a clash of styles  against Sedgley Park. They will be  very physical up front. They’re a  battle-hardened side who have been  down in the third level. They’ll be  direct, but we will enjoy defending  against them, I am sure!

“We’ve a full squad to select from,  and we have good training time before the weekend. We want to use that  wisely and come up with an improved  performance.”

Corrigan singled out flanker Mike  Craven as his side’s outstanding performer against Sheffield.

“He was exceptional,” he added.  “He’s a really industrious No7, and  made a huge difference for us on  Saturday.”

Helsby return to action in South Lancs/Cheshire Three on Saturday with a home derby against Ellesmere  Port.

In the North West Leagues, Chester 2nds lost 40-29 to Preston Grasshoppers 2nds.