Allan Milne played the whole game still feeling his hamstring but put in some tremendous tackles and even made the odd break.

Stabs was in tremendous form with the boot but, first and foremost, this was a team effort typified by Brett Cullinane who had to be dragged off at half time after suffering a back injury in the opening minute.

Itwas a result we have threatened for some time. It was achieved because we scored points after mounting consistent pressure and, when their lively backs got them back in the game, our heads didn't go down.

Into the breeze in the first half we had all the play for the first 15 minutes but Davy Tighe missed a couple of penalties while stand off King got their first.

On 20 minutes he got a second and the crowd half expected them to open up.

But we came back and John Painter finished off a persistent forwards maul. Stabs took over and kicked us into a 7-6 lead.

Both packs were giving away set piece ball and just on half time some sloppiness in their 22 saw fly half King kick downfield. Thomas couldn't clear and, after a series of mauls, they were going for a pushover when we brought the whole lot crashing down.

Referee Graham Bancroft from Manchester had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try which made it 7-13 at the break.

But with the wind and the rain at our backs we refused to lie down and Jamie got his first after 48 minutes. Allan Milne made the space and Tank evaded two tackles to go in under the posts to give us a slender one point lead.

But, as so often happens we lost concentration, and almost from the restart their back row made break in midfield which saw No 8 Martin touchdown under the posts to make it 14-20. Mr Stabler was not happy.

His forwards made up for it when they pinned Chester back in their own half and on 58 minutes Jamie got his second when he used his strenhgth to go in from ten yards. Stabs missed this one but we were just one point behind.

The next try was vital and it was Tommy Barff who seized the opportunity. Davy Tighe set it up breaking on the blindside and timing his pass to perfection.

Barffy sprinted along the touchline evading two despairing tackles to dive in at the corner. Stabs converted brilliantly from the touchline after discussing his intentions with the crowd.

But it wasn't over and Chester made it 26-25 when fly half King finished off a break on 70 minutes.

We were in for a tense finale and King did miss a couple of penalty attempts as the visitors came hard at us.

But for once it was West who showed how to win a game. Davy Tighe pinned them back in their 22 with a superb kick and we kept up the pressure for sub Phil Gilbraith to go over on 78 minutes. He'd onluy come on two minutes earlier when Allan Milne finally succumbed. Stabs converted to take us two scores clear much to the delight of the increasingly noisy crowd.

This was a well deserved victory against a very mobile Chester side who were desperate for the points themselves. We did give away a lot of possession, we did give away a penalty try, we did give them too many penalty attempts but at the end of the day we did score five well worked tries.

West Darren Thomas, Tommy Barff, Jamie Connolly, Allan Milne[Gilbraith 76], Tom Rance, John Stabler, Davy Tighe, John Painter [capt], Brett Cullinane [Gez Geritz 40], Carl Robinson, Paul Rudd, Andrew Davies, Ed Britton, Tim Sawyer, Stu Bennett.

Reps: Gez Geritz, Phil Gilbraith, Mark Baggs.

Chester • 15 S Johnson 14 S Green 13 S Burke 12 G Parry [capt] 11 J Lyle 10 M King 9 C Ellis 1 M Davies 2 J Goulding 3 R Moore 4 P Campbell 5 G Sanger 6 R Hughes 7 G Taylor 8 G Martin

Reps: 16 G Woods 17 J Studley 18 D Jones