Ecstasy for Richmond while its heartache for Wharfedale, Cinderford and Henley

With the title race being hotly contested and the relegation battle going right to the wire in National One, we were in for another exciting an unpredictable campaign and the 2015/16 duly delivered.

After Ealing Trailfinders clinched the title last season, the race for promotion was once again wide open in National One. With just a single spot available into the Championship, there was a belief that this could be one of the tightest title races in National One due to the strong contenders for promotion.

Rosslyn Park were seen as early favourites for the crown following their second place finish from the previous term while Coventry, Blackheath, Fylde and Hartpury College were all craving strong years. But in truth, Richmond were not on my radar when discussing promotion. A seventh place finish last season set-up a good platform for the men from the Athletic Ground to build upon, however their inconsistent form led me to believe they only had an outside shot of promotion.

How wrong I was.

Firstly, Rosslyn Park and Coventry began the season with mixed form which put early dents into their title hopes while newly promoted Ampthill and District were the team to beat in the opening weekends of the season. The A’s showed signs of what they were capable off in National Two North the previous year and that quality they possessed was on show in National One which saw them grace many headlines early on.

Esher were another side that began strongly and by the start of November the top six sides were separated by just four points. Defeats were becoming seldom at the summit, but by the end of the 2015, Richmond and Hartpury College were the front runners heading into the New Year.

But, it was another team at were starting to turn heads as we approached the second half of the season. Darlington Mowden Park finished ninth last season and began this campaign with seven defeats from their first nine games. However, they burst into life just before Christmas and ended the year on a six game winning streak and would go on to extend that sequence of results up until February where their 13 game unbeaten run came to an end against Richmond.

Away from the top half of the table and to the relegation battle. With Ampthill and District strutting their stuff, attention turned to Hull Ionians and Henley Hawks who were both promoted from their respective National Two divisions along with the A’s. As ever with teams moving up into a new division, they usually face a scrap to beat the drop and with the I’s and the Hawks, this was no different.

Henley found themselves in the bottom three at the midway point of the season and were joined by Cinderford (who had beat the drop last term) and National One ever presents Wharfedale while Loughborough Students, Blaydon and Hull Ionians were not far in front of the trapdoor.

Into the second half of the season and once again there was nothing to separate the title candidates while Plymouth Albion, who had dropped down from the Championship, were also starting to click into gear following a sluggish start.

Down at the bottom, Wharfedale were able to jump out of the relegation zone following a crucial win over Henley Hawks and it began to look bleak for the side from Dry Leas as January drew to a close.

Change was on the agenda in February as after a poor first half of the season, Rosslyn Park parted ways with coach James Buckland and Scott Sneddon was given the job of turning Park’s campaign around -  which he was able to do as Park went on to finish the season in fifth place. Another teams campaign that was changing, but for the worse, was Blackheath’s. Club began the month with a defeat against a spirited Wharfedale outfit and that was followed up by losses against Hartpury College, Richmond and Plymouth Albion which ended their hopes of promotion. It was also club legend David Allen’s final season with Blackheath, but there would be no silverware, however it would conclude with the forward scoring a brace for his beloved club on the final day of the campaign.

In March, Richmond and Hartpury College broke away from the rest of the title challengers as slips in form left themselves too much to do as Richmond and College kept their cool. We also had our first casualty of the year as Henley Hawks were relegated at the end of the month following a home defeat to Coventry while Blaydon secured their safety for another year.

The title race and fight for survival was confirmed in the third weekend of April. Richmond entered Round 28 10 points clear of Hartpury and knew a win against College on that particular Saturday would clinch them the title and they did not pass up the opportunity to seal their place in the Championship. Down at the bottom, despite valiant performances in the recent weeks leading up to this round of fixtures, the fates of Wharfedale and Cinderford were sealed as they were relegated in to National Two while Hull Ionians and Loughborough Students could breathe a sigh of relief.

April also saw huge change at Plymouth Albion. A club seemingly on course to end the season strongly, were hampered by off the field issues. The club’s owners had no other choice then to put the club up for sale due to financial difficulties and Albion briefly slipped into administration.  It meant they were docked 30 points and then the new owners sacked Director of Rugby Graham Dawe.

With Plymouth now ending the season in midtable it was left to Hartpury College, Blackheath and Ampthill to battle it out for the pride of finishing in second place. College began the final weekend in the runners up spot and they managed to maintain that position and in doing so, made history as they finished in their highest ever position in the National Leagues.