Chesterfield send Lincoln home to lick their wounds

With the disappointing loss at Kesteven two weekends previous and the memories of the defeat to Lincoln earlier in the season it was difficult not to foresee another loss against a side with promotion so easily at grasp...

The encounter in 2014 at Lincoln's ground shook the Panther's resolve - with injuries sustained during the match forcing people in to positions they have never played before took its toll on the side up against a youthful, well drilled, quick and ambitious Lincoln squad; the end result was a blow and added pressure to the newly promoted Panther's who are eager to make their mark in the Midlands League.

Again, with still many injuries still being treated it has been difficult for the Panther's to field a consistent XV throughout the whole season with many points tallied through brute force rather than pre-set manoeuvres and their second encounter with Lincoln was to be no exception, in many ways this worked to the home side's advantage.

Lincoln arrived early to Dunston Road to battle cold winds and were completing drills and defence work hours prior to kick-off, displaying their eagerness to gain 5 points away from home and secure promotion. This rallied the home side who were starting to brew in the changing room ready to give the visitors a 'Show of Force' once the whistle blew.

Panthers opted to receive the kick whilst going up hill against the sun and bitter wind, the crowd gathered bearing testament to the growing popularity of the club and tentatively waited for the outcome...they were not to be disappointed.

The Panthers started strong, eager to dominate and beat their opposite man. The Strength of the Panther's pack and scrummage skills drove Lincoln off the park, barely a scrum ended without Panthers taking the possession with Rob Davison looking to win the ball at every opportunity. All line outs were contested by getting the tall lads up in the air to disrupt Lincoln's game plan. Such was Chesterfield's forward dominance Lincoln rarely got any clean ball from the rucks or mauls and the mistakes started to creep in.

An early try came from big Luke 'Beefy' Holt, all 23 stone of him pounding over the line, with Adam 'Rusty' Miles kicking for conversion, unfortunately a narrow miss left the home side with a 5 point lead.

Not to be outgunned the backs were eager to make their mark, a massive hit by Nick Fenton sent a member of Lincolns' back row in the air and crashing to the floor which would have Manu Tuilagi nodding in approval, Ben Bunting, not one to shirk any physical duties made sure his opposite man was worried enough to catch a ball. With the centre's attacking the opposition like a pair of Dobermans it was only a matter of time before they bared fruit... a quick ball from the breakdown in to Chris Coopers hands playing at fly half from the increasingly competitive Second XV squad passed it to Fenton to destroy two of their players followed by a quick offload to Ben Bunting who sprinted to the try line not with out a few hand offs to secure the points. Again Miles took to the stage to convert and narrowly missed.

By this point tempers were fraying and Lincoln appeared shell shocked, clearly this was not what they came to expect, these early points looked to test their mentality and with the big hits going in their physical well being too.

Chesterfield were not to give up, many times before they had witnessed the fruits of their labour being taken away after stepping off the gas so next up a penalty try was awarded after Lincoln collapsed the scrum on the try line unable to cope with spine crushing pressures inflicted by the Chesterfield eight. This time Adam slotted the ball between the sticks to gain the home side 17 well earned points.

Much of the game carried on this way, the referee was fair and let the game flow, Chesterfield never gave up pressuring their opposite number, the defence was solid and 'in their face'. Tye Rose was substituted due to a hamstring injury and Phil Cawthorne came on to put in some try saving tackles along with Adam Miles who was working the park with some quick running. Nick Fenton found himself sin binned ten minutes from the final whistle giving Lincoln a slight advantage, but try as they might they just could not manage to finish it off with many dropped balls at the last hurdle which could have resulted in some good tries. Absolute credit to the visitors, they certainly looked dangerous once they managed to get some possession and the league know what they were capable off; with slick hands and some of the quickest lads in the league but Chesterfield just managed to get the edge on the day.

Chris Cooper proved to be stead fast at No.10 and along with Adam Miles displayed some great kicking. The pack were exceptional throughout and the commitment from every member of the squad was 100%.

They look forward to travelling to Mellish next week and then one last game against League leaders Melton Mowbray before their end of season tour.