Cambridge regain top spot as the OA's slip up at Stortford

Back to back defeats against promotion rivals Cambridge and Bishops Stortford have seen the Old Albanian knocked of their perch at the summit of National Two South.

It has all meant that Cambridge now retake the lead of this division with 10 games remaining after playing catch-up over the last few weeks.

They will have Bishops Stortford to thank as they were the Old Albanian's conquerors this weekend leaving Stortford just 10 points off the play-off place.

Elsewhere in the top half, Taunton, Redruth and Barnes picked up comfortable wins while the Old Elthamians had to come from behind to beat bottom club Launceston.

Towards the relegation zone, the Redingensians and Southend Saxons secured vital victories in their quests for survival.

Cambridge 62-10 Canterbury

Cambridge went back to the top of National Two South in style as they ran in 10 tries against Canterbury.

Cambridge hit top gear and were almost out of sight by half-time after Matthew Meek, Alexander Moon, James Stokes and Albert Portsmouth had all crossed.

A try from Aiden Moss had actually given Canterbury the lead at Volac Park, but their advantage was brief and it got worse for them in the second half.

Stokes completed a fine hat-trick and Michael Ayrton, Stephen Hipwell, Lawrence Hutchinson and Portsmouth again all touched down to round off a convincing display for the hosts.

Cambridge are now two points clear at the top of the table while this defeat for Canterbury ended a four game winning streak. They remain 10th in the table and are now six points clear of the relegation zone

Bishops Stortford 20-16 Old Albanian

A late Dominic Morris  try ensured Bishops Stortford inflicted back to back defeats on the Old Albanian who were knocked of the top of National Two South.

Stortford's winger Michael Gallagher and centre Morris scored tries, with George Cullen kicking 10 points.

The OA's were behind early on thanks to Cullen landing two penalties but Matthew Gallagher leveled things up for the away side just before half-time.

Matthew Gallagher then gave the visitors the lead after the break with his third penalty of the day before his namesake Michael Gallagher put the home side back ahead as he crossed for the first try of the afternoon.

But with eight minutes remaining, Harry Bale went over for the OA's to put them in front and it looked as though they would see out the win, but a yellow card to Oliver Cooper-Millar opened the door for Stortford to snatch victory.

And the hosts did exactly that as Morris dived over with a minute remaining to seal a 10th straight home win for Bishops Stortford who are now just 10 points off the play-off place.

Bury St Edmunds 24-34 Taunton Titans

Two late tries from Oliver Massey-Birch and Oliver Claxon sealed Taunton's win against Bury St Edmunds in a hard fought battle in Suffolk.

Taunton, who sit 11 points off the play-off spot, were behind for most of this encounter but pulled clear of their opponents in the final 20 minutes of the match.

The only time the Titans were ahead in this game before the final quarter was at half-time as tries from Jake Caulfield and Watisoni Vakalutukali along with a Gary Kingdom penalty gave them a slender advantage after the hosts had raced into a 14-0 lead with Scott Lyle scoring all the points.

Kingdom added another three points to the Taunton total after the break to make it 14-20 before Bury re-took the lead on 58 minutes thanks to a try from Shaquille Meyers.

But that was as good as it got for Bury as Massey-Birch and Claxon both scored without reply after the hour to clinch Taunton's fourth win in their last five matches.

Chinnor 13-26 Redruth 

Redruth have now won five of their last six league matches after they beat relegation threatened Chinnor away from home.

A Richard Brown score just before the break but the in-form Reds 8-14 ahead after an earlier Kyle Marriott try.

Further second-half Redruth tries from Brown and Samuel Parsons were split by a Henry Lamont score for Chinnor, but the hosts couldn't create a couple more clear cut chances in the final quarter of this match to turn things around.

Redruth have now won 14 games this season and six of those have come away from home while Chinnor are back in the bottom three after this defeat and are now three points from safety.

Launceston 17-20 Old Elthamians

The Old Elthamians came back from a 17-10 half-time deficit to clinch victory over Launceston as the bottom club in the division remain without a win this season.

The home side, that are now 28 points from safety, have lost 17 games this campaign and this is probably their toughest defeat to take.

Scores from Alex Edwards and Eddie McGinley as well as a Penalty Try gave the hosts the advantage at the break as they captalised on a yellow card shown to OE's hooker Gavin O'Meara

The OE's points came from a Craig Dowsett try and the boot of Thomas White, but it took them until 58 minutes to get right back into this encounter.

Centre Benjamin Hough darted over to level the scores up and the onus was now on the away side to go on take the victory and they did just that as White slotted over penalty seven minutes from the end to complete the comeback and break Launceston's hearts.

Redingensians 20-11 Clifton 

The Redingensians ended a run of four straight defeats to move within a point of safety after victory over seventh placed Clifton.

The home side  were 13-3 ahead at half-time after Robbie Stapley's converted score and two penalties from Michael Chandler.

James MacKay had slotted a penalty at the start of the first period for Clifton and he did the same at the beginning of the second, before David Wheeler touched down to reduce the deficit to 13-11.

However, despite Clifton having 30 minutes to take the lead, they failed to do so as Samir Kharbouch secured the vital win for the Rams with a try in the final play of the game.

Having recorded only their sixth win of the season, this performance shows the Redingensians are capable of staying in this division, while Clifton have now lost eight of their last 10 matches but remain in the top half. 

Dorking 15-29 Barnes

Barnes extended their unbeaten run to five matches as they came away from Dorking with their eighth win of the season.

Edouard Alteirac's try gave Barnes a 12-15 lead at the break after Sunwe Obana and Fraser MacDonald had crossed for Dorking before Fraser Carlisle's score.

MacDonald kicked a penalty after half-time to level up the scores but tries from Jack Franklin and Matthew Cornish (who had actually opened the scoring for Barnes in the first half) confirmed victory for the away side.

Barnes' bonus point win now leaves them level on points with Clifton and more significantly, 16 points clear of the relegation zone while Dorking's inconsistency continues.

Southend Saxons 25-10 Worthing Raiders

Southend Saxons picked up their first win in seven games with victory over Worthing Raiders.

Tries from Chris Shields and Craig Strachan helped the home side into a 15-3 first-half lead which saw Matthew McLean slot over a penalty for Worthing and both Matthew Farnes and Elliot Luke sent to the sin-bin for the away side.

Mark Billings and Liam Perkins exchanged scores after the break before Bradley Burr ultimately settled the game with a penalty on 61 minutes to secure Southend a much needed win.

The Saxons are now out of the bottom three, but only a point clear of the danger zone after this welcome triumph while like Dorking, the lack of inconsistency is hampering Worthing's progress up the table.