AMERICAN FOOTBALL - Chester Romans 14 Redditch Arrows 22

THE Arrows top the Division Two Central table following this hard-fought victory.

But they did it the hard way, clawing their way back into the game after conceding an early score.

Running back James Tootle handed them the lead but the Arrows hit back when wide receiver Steve Bell snared Richard Wilde's long pass and ran unimpeded into the endzone from 48 yards out. John Riddell's extra point was enough to hand the visitors the lead. The end of the first quarter saw the Arrows slowly gaining the upper hand in the territorial battle, thanks in no small part to safety Andy McAnenny's thunderous tackle that knocked the ball from the Romans carrier.

However momentum swung early in the second quarter as a rush of blood resulted in two personal foul penalties and an Arrows defensive player ejected.

This led to Arrows punter Karl Watkins being unable to clear a punt and Chester's Mike Paling scooped up the loose ball and headed into the endzone to retake the lead. Peter Tootle ran in the two-point conversion to leave the score 14-7 to the Romans at the half. As the weather deteriorated in the second half, both teams turned to the running game, with Arrows pair Ian Lakin and Dave Mills impressing.

It was Mills who bagged his side's second touchdown - and then added the two-point conversion - but a Romans player was injured in the process prompting a 45-minute delay.

With the game going into the final few minutes, Arrows quarterback Richard Wilde found receiver David Faulkner who raced in from 62 yards to give the Arrows the breathing space they required. Riddell again added the extras to leaving Redditch at the top of the pile.