THINGS are on the march at Acklam Park, but for four players to be given their marching orders on Saturday was definitely not on the agenda.

The joke on the touchline was that Yorkshire Society referee Andrew Crozier was handing out his Valentines cards early - four red and three yellow.

Then when the ball was hoofed deep into touch and a replacement was not readily forthcoming a Chester fan shouted: "Haven't you got another ball?" The response was: "Your lot don't need one."

The visitors clearly grew frustrated after racing into a 14-0 lead inside 15 minutes, only to find themselves 27-14 behind ten minutes into the second half.

What had previously been an entertaining game was then marred by a mass punch-up. One player from each side was dismissed but two minutes later there was another set-to and both No 8s were sent packing.

In both instances the penalty went to Boro, Simon Moore landing the second one to make it 30-14. But as the first home player to see red was replacement prop Craig Chapman, who had been on for only five minutes, they opted to play the rest of the game with uncontested scrums.

This was one area where Boro had been up against it, but the lack of contest did nothing for them or the game, which fizzled out and allowed Chester a consolation score near the end.

The only team to beat North One leaders Morley, they had enjoyed a five-match winning run until losing at Hull last week. Boro, meanwhile, had lost their last five but felt there were signs of improvement in the last two games, which were carried on here.

The return of Peter Wright at scrum half made a difference as the back-line functioned very smoothly, with fly half Neil Baggett and Dave Richardson forming an incisive partnership.

Richardson, who has rejected an approach to return to Mowden Park, looked the complete package at inside centre. He made breaks, kicked well off his left foot and was sound in defence.

Boro insist his decision to stay has nothing to do with money as they are investing the £2.5m they have received for selling part of their land into their facilities.

Demolition of the clubhouse will start on June 1 with construction of the new one on the same site expected to take nine months. It will include an indoor cricket school and a gym.

Hopefully it will act as a shot-in-the-arm for a club which has spent the last two seasons hanging on in North One rather than challenging for promotion.

Having once slipped behind Stockton, they are now forging ahead to become Teesside's premier club again, and on Saturday's evidence there are enough good young players to suggest further progress.

They overcame their scrummaging difficulties with vigorous rucking and good handling among both forwards and backs.

Ex-Newcastle hooker Richard Horton has also shown his loyalty by turning down Darlington and he was always prominent, along with skipper Iain Bradford in the second row.

Winger Andy Micklewright put in two excellent tackles as Boro initially looked like weathering Chester's early storm.

But then came two converted tries in quick succession. The first followed a penalty to the corner, the second stemmed from a counter-attack by the speedy young full back.

Boro's fightback began with a break by Baggett, after which Richardson made 40 metres before the forwards piled in, Chester killed the ball and Moore kicked the penalty.

Baggett followed an excellent kick to touch with another break. He found Richardson on his inside and the centre stepped past a tackle on his 20-metre run to the line.

A minor skirmish saw a player from each side sin-binned before Horton and Micklewright attacked up the right then the ball went left, where Richardson worked a loop with his brother, Lee, and winger Kobi Gyasi stepped inside a tackle to score.

With Moore's conversions failing into the breeze, Boro still trailed 14-13 at half-time. But with a Chester prop being yellow-carded just before the interval Boro quickly forged ahead and Moore converted the next two tries from wide on the right.

Horton crashed on to a short blind-side pass from Wright to score after good inter-passing by the forwards, then the Chester scrum half was caught in possession and Bradford surged over from 15 metres.

Then came the punch-up, and it will be harsh on Boro if they lose the services of Chapman and Ben Pattinson through suspension.

Result: Middlesbrough 30, Chester 21.