AN inspired performance from 18-year-old flanker Gavin Jones steered Huddersfield back on the winning trail in the North I clash at Lockwood Park.
The talented wing forward bagged a brace of tries - one in either half - to help put the disappointments of the last two weeks defeats behind them and keep Huddersfield firmly among the front-runners in the division.
Admittedly, Chester did not bring much to the table in an attacking sense, but skipper Mark Sowerby was quite right to be pleased with the way his team responded after the poor performance which saw them crash out of the EDF Cup at Kendal seven days ago.
But if Jones was the man-of-the-match, then fly-half Chris Johnson ran him a close second with an intelligent kicking and running game allied to some confident place-kicking.
It was Johnson who gave Field an early six-point lead after a well-struck 41 yard penalty in the third minute, followed by a second from 39 yards after Chester were caught handling in the ruck.
Full-back Martin Burger brought Chester level with two successful kicks of his own, but Huddersfield began to take charge midway through the half after one of several powerful runs from winger Tim Taylor.
Johnson tucked a kick into the right-hand corner, and from the line-out the ball missed the would-be receivers and found its way to Jones who snapped up the unexpected delivery and charged over from close range, Johnson converting.
Hamish Pratt was forced to leave the field after picking up a knee injury, but the home side's progress was not halted, with Jones safely pouching a good deal of line-out ball (including at least two of Chester's throws) and after a series of pick-up and drives, prop Neil Pollock plunged over wide out on the left.
Chester's defence held firm in the early stages of the second half, but as their frustrations grew, so did the penalty count against them, and Johnson extended the home lead with another two successful place kicks, either side of the visitors' best chance when a crossfield kick from Burger was knocked forward by the right wing.
Chester prop Stuart Hofstetter gifted Johnson the second of his two kicks when he was sin-binned and penalised for repeated offside as Huddersfield turned the screw in the closing stages.
And after another great surging run from Taylor, carried on by hooker Chris Gough, it was fitting that it was Jones who popped up wide out on the left flank to collect and blast his way over the tryline for the final score of the game.
As satisfying as the victory was, what must have been as equally pleasing was the way in which Huddersfield's much criticised defence snuffed out Chester's rare sorties and kept their tryline intact.
Huddersfield: Metcalfe; Shaw, Carter, Paxman, Taylor; Johnson, Clayton; Pollock, Gough, Stringwell, Pratt (Rotchell 25), Hinchliff, Jones, Whitehead, Sowerby. Subs: McPhail, Wicket
Chester: Burger; Brookes (Lawton 51), Green, Kearney, Donovan; Francis, Chappell; Hofstetter, Turnbull, Whitelock-Wainwright, Stevens, White, Dykes, Rowe, Clark. Subs: Ferguson, Davies.
Referee: Jim Morrell.
Match details: 3mins Johnson pen 3-0; 8mins Johnson pen 6-0; 13mins Burger pen 6-3; 15mins Burger pen 6-6; 24mins Jones try, Johnson conv 13-6; 33mins Pollock try 18-6; 57mins Johnson pen 21-6; 75mins Johnson pen 24-6; 77mins Jones try 29-6.
