Blaydon hand themselves major boost in battle against the drop
Blaydon have secured back to back victories to keep their survival hopes alive
©Nick Meredith
Blaydon’s chances of avoiding relegation to National Two were given a huge boost in Round 20 as the north-east side claimed victory over Blackheath at Crow Trees.
Following London Welsh’s exit from the Championship last week, it now means only two sides will be relegated from National One and Blaydon have put themselves in a great position to beat the drop.
Their latest win has seen them move level on points with 14th placed Hull Ionians after the Yorkshire side were thumped by runaway leaders Hartpury College who reached 99 points for the season on Saturday.
Fellow relegation rivals Macclesfield had a similar sort of afternoon as they were beaten heavily by second placed Ampthill and District.
Elsewhere in National One, Plymouth Albion, Birmingham Moseley, Coventry and Darlington Mowden Park all clinched victories while England Head Coach Eddie Jones watched a thriller as Rosslyn Park edged out Loughborough Students.
Hull Ionians 7-49 Hartpury College
Hartpury College scored five tries in the second half to secure their 20th consecutive victory as they beat Hull Ionians at Brantingham Park.
Hull Ionians restricted Hartpury to just two first-half tries scored by Mat Gilbert and Luke Eves which gave the visitors a 14-7 lead.
John Allott scored the hosts’ only points in the first period and that was as good as it got for the I’s as Hartpury raced through the gears after the break.
Scrum-half and England U20 international Harry Randall dotted down to stretch College’s lead and they built on their advantage just after the hour when they were awarded a Penalty Try.
Hartpury finished strongly with a Jake Polledri try and two from Jonas Mikalcius to wrap up the win as the visitors moved on to 99 points for the season after this latest triumph.
Ampthill and District 36-10 Macclesfield
Ampthill and District underlined their credentials to finish as runners-up in National One with a clinical second-half display to see off a spirted Macclesfield side at Dillingham Park.
The hosts led 12-5 at the break thanks to tries from Alex Mitchell and Karim Lynch after Ryan Parkinson at put the divisions’ bottom club ahead.
Joe Berics, Karl Braband and Paino Hehea (2) crossed after the break for the A’s to take the game away from Macc inside 15 second-half minutes.
Lewis Winterbottom provided the rest of the visitors’ points with a try six minutes from time, but Ampthill had done enough earlier in the half to secure their ninth win in their last 10 matches.
Plymouth Albion 29-21 Fylde
Plymouth Albion remain third in the National One table as they clinched their 10th home victory of the season thanks to this hard-fought win over a valiant Fylde side.
Kieran Hallett’s men led 21-7 at half-time thanks to tries from Rupert Freestone, Nile Darces and Matt Crosscombe, with James Bailey crossing for Fylde.
Dan Pullinger secured the four-try bonus point for Albion with just 10 minutes to go after a scrappy second period.
But a yellow card shown to Rupert Cooper late in the game gave Fylde the upper hand and the Lancashire side capitalised on the extra man.
A try from Nick Grey five minutes from time was swiftly followed by a score from flanker Jack Turley and suddenly Fylde were well and truly back in this contest.
However, Plymouth were able to dictate the tempo in the remaining minutes and were awarded a penalty which Matthew Shepherd converted to wrap up the victory.
Cambridge 30-39 Birmingham Moseley
Birmingham Moseley kept their hopes of finishing second in this division alive as they scored 19 points in five minutes to clinch victory over Cambridge in a thrilling game at Volac Park.
Tries from Drew Cheshire and Alex Grove put Moseley 13-8 up at the break, with Alex Moon dotting down for Cambridge after Dan Lewis had landed an early penalty.
But after the break, Cambridge capitulated and a five-point margin turned into a 24-point deficit in the space of five minutes despite Moseley being down to 14-men following a yellow card shown to James Burgoyne.
Chris Brightwell, Ed Sheldon and Grove all crossed to put Moseley in control of this contest.
Burgoyne returned to the field, but Moseley were then reduced to 13-men shortly after as Tom Fidler and Jacques Le Roux were both sinbinned.
Tom Nutley was able to touch down for Cambridge in their absence, but that was all the hosts could muster up. They did get the next try of the match though when Moseley were back to a full complement as Gareth Baxter dived over, but the visitors once again had a response.
William Crane claimed Moseley’s sixth try of the afternoon to put the game beyond Cambridge, but Ross Stewart’s men were able to secure a bonus-point as Mike Ayrton and Dan Seal dotted down late on.
Blaydon 28-11 Blackheath
Blaydon’s survival chances were given a major boost as they beat high-flying Blackheath to secure their second win in as many weeks as they moved level on points with Hull Ionians.
The Crows are now only in the bottom two because Hull Ionians have won one more game than the north-east side this season, but only their fourth victory of the campaign has given them a superb chance of staying in this division.
Hooker Matthew Thompson scored a brace in the first-half to give Blaydon a 10-8 lead after a Tom Baldwin try and a Leo Fiedling penalty had put Blackheath in front.
Brett Connon and his opposite number Fiedling exchanged penalties at the start of the second period, but it was the hosts that were controlling the match and their excellent game management ended with them taking the contest away from Blackheath.
Chris Wearmouth and Jack Davidson both crossed to give Blaydon a 14-point cushion and Connon sealed the superb win for the home side when he landed his second penalty of the afternoon.
Rosslyn Park 39-37 Loughborough Students
Rosslyn Park edged out Loughborough Students to clinch a thrilling victory in front of England Head Coach Eddie Jones.
Jones was in attendance at the Rock as he analysed the game’s referee Angus Gardner; the man taking charge of England’s Six Nations opener against France on Saturday.
The England coach also saw Rosslyn Park secure their sixth win on the trot which has seen them nail down a top six place in National One.
Park ran in six tries throughout the afternoon and led this contest 24-22 at half-time. That ‘nip and tuck’ feel about this contest continued in the second-half as Loughborough battled to seal two bonus points for themselves which keeps them eighth in the table.
Coventry 35-27 Esher
Coventry continued their excellent home record as they claimed win number 10 at the Butts Park Arena, but they had to come from behind to beat a valiant Esher side.
The hosts trailed at half-time as tries from Paul Roberts, Calum Waters and Neil Sweeney gave Esher a 15-10 lead after Cov had been in front thanks to a score from Tony Fenner and five points from Will Maisey.
It got worse for Cov after the break as Cameron Gentles stormed over for Esher to increase their advantage, but Rowland Winter’s side then produced an excellent response.
Scott Tolmie, Tom Wheatcroft and James Stokes tries as well as seven points via the boot of Maisey saw Cov take a 32-22 lead just after the hour.
Brett Daynes was then yellow-carded for the hosts and Esher took advantage of the extra man as Andy Garner crossed for the Surrey-side’s fifth try of the day and moved them to within five points of Cov.
Garner was close to snatching a result for Esher late on, but was halted by the Cov defence and the hosts were able to clinch victory as Maisey slotted over yet another three points deep into injury time.
Old Albanian 29-35 Darlington Mowden Park
Winger Adam Radwan ran in a hat-trick to help Darlington Mowden Park continue their excellent recent form as they beat Old Albanian at Woolams.
Harry Bate, Jack Daly and Nick Foster (2) were responsible for the OAs’ tries throughout this contest, but it wasn’t enough to stop them slipping to their third straight defeat.
Talite Vaioleti and Matt Heaton scored DMP’s other tries while Josh Bragman kicked 10 points as the north-east side moved up to ninth in the table following their fourth win in their last five matches.
