The Rams completed the season double over the Chester Romans with a comprehensive 47-0 shutout at West Leeds RUFC, keeping the Romans pointless for the fifth consecutive meeting and extending their winning run over Chester to six games.

The Rams won the toss and elected to kick, and the defence set the tone from the start. Chester went three-and-out on the opening possession, with an incomplete pass on third down forcing a punt. The Rams’ first drive stalled too, but Dan Haywood pinned the Romans deep with a punt into the corner. The defence stuffed Chester again, but the punt was muffed by Harry Anchor, handing the away side excellent field position. The Romans completed a pass on the next drive but then threw a pick to Jonny Gritt, and the Rams capitalised immediately. Michael Rojas connected deep in the end zone with Faheem Hasan for the opening touchdown, and the PAT from Trishmpriyo Sarkar was good to make it 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Chester were forced to punt once more, and this time it sailed through for a touchback. Good running from Nathaniel Wyse and a jet sweep from Iby Sardar got the offence rolling, and more strong carries moved the Rams deep into the Chester half. Rojas then found Matt Snell down the middle in the end zone for the second touchdown. The PAT was blocked to leave it at 13-0. Chester punted again on the next drive, and Tyler Broad fielded it and broke loose on an incredible return that lasted a full sixteen seconds, weaving through Chester tacklers before finally being brought down. Rojas connected with Liam Calvert, who trucked a defender and moved the Rams into the Romans’ half, before Iuri Pina ran it in for a touchdown. Sarkar added the PAT to push the lead to 20-0. The Romans punted once more on their next possession, and the Rams went straight back to running the ball effectively. A pass from Rojas to Sardar moved the offence close to the goal line, and Rojas sneaked it in for the score. The PAT was good from Sarkar to make it 27-0 at halftime.

Nathaniel Derrick returned the second-half kickoff well for the Rams. Hasan bobbled a screen pass but still made yards, and Pina picked up another first down before Rojas connected with Snell on the deep route once again for a touchdown. The PAT was good from Robbie Green to extend the lead to 34-0. Chester had to punt again, with Broad fielding the kick and being brought down slightly more quickly this time. A long pass from Rojas to Sardar got the Rams moving, and Rojas scrambled to find Joey McEntee with a pass to continue the drive. The offence could not connect on a pass to the end zone, but a Rojas quarterback run moved the ball to within a yard on third down, and he powered in on a sneak on fourth down for another touchdown. Green’s PAT was good to make it 41-0. Chester had their best field position of the afternoon after a big kickoff return by their #1, but the quarterback threw a pick to Broad as the third quarter drew to a close.

Jamie Boakye-Danquah broke free on a long run early in the fourth quarter but fumbled the ball despite appearing to be down, and Chester recovered. The Romans completed a nice pass down the middle, but their #14 dropped an easy catch on fourth down to hand the ball back to the Rams. Boakye-Danquah answered with another big run before Rojas scrambled out of the pocket and found Snell for a sizeable gain just short of the end zone. Rojas then connected with Hasan on a slant for the final touchdown of the afternoon, and the two-point conversion attempt was stopped just short on a run from Wyse to leave the score at 47-0. Chester tried a long pass on their final possession but it fell incomplete, and the game was over.

The dominant shutout moves the Rams to 4-1 on the season and maintains the pressure on the Newcastle Vikings at the top of the NFC 1 North. The Rams stay at home next week to face the Sheffield Giants at West Leeds RUFC.

Images courtesy of Robert Hall

Highlights

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