The Rams met old rivals the Chester Romans for the 11th time in 13 years at their new ground, South Leeds Stadium looking to improve on their 6-4 record. The Rams had the advantage going into the game having won the last 3 contests between the two teams, the last, a 33-12 win in the old division 1a.
In brilliant sunshine and in front of the largest Yorkshire crowd of the season, the Romans started the game at their 35 yard line after receiving the ball from the Rams and making a short kick off return. Chester came out of the blocks with all guns blazing and moved the ball on the ground for a 1st down, but they then fumbled the ball on their next play, which was recovered by the ever improving youngster, Greg Boyland adding to his 3 interceptions and numerous tackles for the year so far.
The Rams came out passing, led by Andy Green starting at Quarterback due to the late return from America of Rick Lynch, but after both attempts fell short they turned to veteran running backs Justin Lester and Paul Goodward, both converting plays for 1st downs as they marched down the 100 yard field. Lester then skipped through the Romans defence on a 20 yard run to put the Rams ahead with his first touchdown of the season, and put them 6 points up. The point after was no good, being blocked by Chester.
The ensuing kick off return was stopped at the Chester 8 yard line and the Rams limited them to 2 yards rushing on their first two plays. A first down conversion on 3rd and 8 was called back by a hold on Paul Rogers and then a false start by the Chester offensive line had them camped at the 6 yard line - strong running from James Tootle fell short of a first down but on the following play the Rams were called for roughing the kicker on the punt giving the Romans a 2nd bite of the cherry. Tootle danced around behind the line but was again unable to make positive yardage being pursued by a dominant Rams defence. Faced with 25 yards to make a first down, the Romans decided to attempt to run the ball up the gut of the Rams but gained little headway. Jason Wilcock did complete a pass to James Collinson but this failed to get first down and Chester were forced to punt again.
The Rams took over on the half way line and running back Graham Thompson carried the ball twice for a first down. The Rams offence were pushed back with a false start penalty and starting quarterback Andy Green then failed to convert with French wide receiver Julien Boville. Veteran full back Phil Fitzpatrick carried the Rams offence but Graham Thompson was unable to convert for the 1st down on 3rd and 10 but the Rams offence stayed on the field with Thompson failing to convert the 4th down on the ground.
Handing possession back to the Romans, their running back James Tootle gained a 1st down on the ground but strong defence first from the Rams and then the Romans forced both teams to punt and the ball was back in Chesters hands. The Romans started off from the 32 yard line with James Tootle making good headway before Rams and former Leeds Cougars legend Paul Muscroft stopped the 2nd down rush attempt up the middle. The Romans failed to convert on the 3rd down with an incomplete pass from Wilcock and were left with 4th and 10. Cheekily, they ran a fake punt run right up the middle, which was stopped by Rams Linebacker Rob Kent but not before the Romans had made first down. Sadly though, that was the highlight of the drive as the Romans lost yardage and then almost turned the ball over when a screen pass was incomplete with rookie linebacker Brice Marchand sniffing for the fumble recovery.
The Romans were unlucky not to get the ball back when the Rams fumbled their 2nd punt of the day, but luckily Iveson Dyer was on hand to jump onto the ball. Justin Lester followed Paul Goodward on the ground for some hard rushing yards and then scampered down the sideline led by the Rams offensive line for a big 18 yard gain. Tight end Andy Durkin caught the ball in heavy traffic to convert for a first down setting the Rams up just outside the 20 yard red zone. Graham Thompson carried the ball for 8 yards to the outside whilst fighting off a Chester linebacker who on the next down got hold of him and took him down for a loss in the back field. The Rams were unlucky not to score after a Romans Penalty carried them to the 8 yard line, but Craig Naylor was unable to hold on Andy Green’s pass. The Romans were then caught offside moving the ball right up to their goal line and on the next play Quarterback Green ran the ball himself to extend the Rams lead which after a failed extra point attempt was stretched to 13 points to nil. The Rams ended the half with 139 yards rushing, 12 yards passing and held to the Romans 6 yards passing and 44 yards rushing.
Joe Coultate started the 2nd half by receiving the kick off and returning the ball to the Romans 27 yard line. Justin Lester and Paul Goodward then gained some hard yards on the ground to take the Rams offence to within 5 yards of the goal line. Justin Lester then got his 2nd touchdown of the day with a dash up the middle giving the Rams a 20-0 lead after the converted extra point was put through by Boyland. The Romans were lucky not to turnover the ball after they fumbled the kick off but failed to make any progress after recovering the ball. Phil Bilco Keeling stuffed the Romans ground attack on 2 occasions and then James Collinson just failed to catch a pass with acres of space to work with and the Romans were forced to punt the ball again. Iveson Dyer returned the ball to the 30 yard line, where agile quarterback Andy Green was forced to run the ball himself due to excellent pass coverage by Chester. Phil Fitzpatrick was stuffed by Chris Staples on a run up the gut and Graham Thompson took over on 3rd down, but he too was stopped short leaving the Rams with a 4th and inches situation. An attempted quarterback sneak was thwarted giving the Romans excellent field position at the Rams 40 yard line.
The Romans first pass fell incomplete when the ubiquitous Greg Boyland deflected the ball and Neil Goodward was unlucky not to have the interception ruled in his favour as the referees judged it to have made contact with the ground first. Muscroft took Jason Wilcock down on a Quarterback draw and the Romans again attempted to convert on 4th down but the screen pass fell short. Rams possession again and the evergreen Justin Lester carried the ball for 5 yards before Paul Goodward gained the first down and was only just stopped by a Thomas Hall fingertip tackle from getting into the open field to the outside. The Rams were then unlucky not to complete a pass, which just fell short after being deflected and hitting the ground. A personal foul marched them back 15 yards and the penalty was too much for the Rams offense to overcome as they were forced to punt, giving the Romans field position at their 20 yard line.
The Chester offence took the ball forward 3 yards before the Rams defence swarmed into the back field pushing the Romans to the 10 yard line giving them 3rd and 20 towards the end of the 3rd quarter. Safety Matt Harkin stuffed the run and gave the Romans awkward field position for the punt, which was kicked successfully by Wilcock. The Rams took over at the Chester 47 yard line with Phil Fitzpatrick carrying the ball for a gain of 9 yards and then Paul Goodward carrying to the left side for the first down. Goodward was then able to add to the Rams total when he powered into the end zone for a 6 yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked and the Rams took a 26-0 lead in the 4th quarter.
The Romans got the ball on their 6 yard line following the kick off and linebacker Rob Kent finished off a gang tackle on James Tootle with a punishing hit. The Romans gave up field position on penalties but were then able to gain a few yards through running back James Tootle before Matt Harkin took him down with a crushing tackle. Unfortunately, the Romans Paul Walker had his day cut short as he was carried away in the ambulance with an ankle injury following another crunching Rams tackle. The Romans offence again failed to move the ball and were forced to punt with Iveson Dyer returning the ball 10 yards.
Former Leeds Celtic Joe Coultate, taking a break from his normal linebacker duties, stepped in at running back and moved the ball for 10 yards, on the next play Andy Green was lucky to escape being intercepted after a pass interference call ruled out Jason Wilcock’s pickoff. Green then failed to capitalise when he overthrew the wide open Craig Naylor in the end zone. Green was again lucky to escape when he dropped on the fumbled snap leaving Greg Boyland with a 39 yard field goal attempt which sailed through the posts in the strong wind to give the Rams a 29-0 lead with time slipping away for Chester.
Unable to move the ball on the ground the Romans took to their aerial attack which was abruptly stopped out with Greg Boyland’s 4th interception of the season and the ball came back to the Rams. Justin Lester wasted no time running in his 3rd touchdown of the day, his 11th carry of the game and a 7 yard run to give him a total of 109 yards for the day. Boyland converted the extra point to give the Rams a 36-0 lead.
As the clock ticked down, Yorkshires French import, Brice Marchand made a big stop on the kick off giving the Romans field position on their 21 yard line and on their first possession, Chester Quarterback Jason Wilcock narrowly avoided being sacked by letting go of the ball just as he was hit, the pass falling incomplete. This was to be the last meaningful action of the game though and it ended with a lopsided 36-0 victory to the Rams.
The Rams improved their record to 3-2 in the highly competitive BAFL division One, Northern Conference. The Romans, despite a strong display from the multi talented Jason Wilcock and slippery running back James Tootle, fell to a 0-6 record leaving them firmly rooted to the bottom of the division.
The outstanding Justin Lester had 109 yards from 11 carries and 3 Touchdowns, Paul Goodward finished with 63 yards from 8 carries with 1 touchdown, Graham Thompson had 7 carries for 37 yards, Phil Fitzpatrick had 5 carries for 19 yards, Joe Coultate had 2 carries for 14 yards and the Rams had a total offence of 259 yards with 5 touchdowns and a field goal.
The Rams defence had another excellent day at the office with emotional leader Phil Keeling leading the way with 5 tackles, 3 assists with 4 tackles for a combined loss of 19 yards, Rookie linebacker Brice Marchand had 5 tackles with 4 of them being for a loss, Joe Coultate had 4 tackles including one tackle for a big 11 yard loss.
The Rams defence held the Romans to an overall total of 36 yards, which is an incredible feat at this level.
The Rams play Staffordshire Surge at the South Leeds Stadium on Saturday 14th with both teams in a 4 way race to top the division and secure their route into the playoffs. Entry is free and kick off is at 4pm.
MVP: Greg Boyland