Fylde comeback to down Coventry

Fylde produced a stirring comeback to beat Coventry in National One which was a much needed victory for the Lancashire side.

The hosts battled back from 12 points down to secure a win which will ease Fylde’s relegation nerves after a torrid start to 2017.

Relegation will certainly still be on the minds of Macclesfield, Blaydon and Hull Ionians as all three fell to defeats on the weekend while the five teams directly above them all secured victories.

League leaders Hartpury College went past the 100-point mark for the season as they hammered the aforementioned Blaydon while both Ampthill and District and Plymouth Albion maintained their winning runs. Elsewhere in Round 21, Rosslyn Park’s unbeaten sequence of results came to an end away at Birmingham Moseley.

Hartpury College 80-19 Blaydon

Hartpury College thrashed Blaydon at the Gilmans Ground to surpass 100 points for the season and secure their 21^st straight victory of the campaign.

Hartpury took complete control of this contest in the first period as Jake Polledri, Rhys Oakley, Jonas Mikalcius, Ben Chan and Jacob Perry all crossed for 33-0 at half-time.

College did not let up as scores from Joshua Ibuanokpe, Levi Davis (two), Robbie Shaw, Oakley and Mikalcius as well as a Penalty Try saw John Barnes’ men move past 1000 points scored for the season.

Frazer Wilson, Joseph Melia and Andrew Archibald dotted down for Blaydon in the second-period, but they were simply blown away by the runaway league leaders.

Blackheath 17-24 Ampthill and District

Ampthill and District made it 10 wins from their last 11 matches thanks to this triumph over Blackheath.

Leo Fielding kicked three points and converted a Penalty Try for Blackheath, but Ampthill led 14-10 at half-time thanks to tries by Marshall Reece and William Allman.

Ampthill stretched their advantage four minutes into the second period when Joe Tarrant darted over.

Their advantage didn’t last long though as a try from Fielding gave ‘Club’ hope, but a Tarrant penalty gave the A’s a seven-point lead which they never relinquished as the Bedfordshire side remain second in the National One standings.

Darlington Mowden Park 17-20 Plymouth Albion

Plymouth Albion overcame a resurgent Darlington Mowden Park to come from behind and secure their fourth win in a row.

Kieran Hallett’s men held a slender 14-12 lead at half-time thanks to tries from Robin Wedlake and Herbie Stupple, but they were three points down just before the hour after a well-worked try from Matt Heaton.

Heaton added to first-half scores from the in-form Adam Radwan and Callum McKenzie, but Plymouth were able to dictate the tempo in the final quarter as Matt Shepherd slotted over two penalties to seal the win.

Birmingham Moseley 36-20 Rosslyn Park

Birmingham Moseley returned to winning ways at Billesley Common with an excellent win over an ill-disciplined Rosslyn Park side.

Kevin Maggs’ team thundered into a 26-6 lead thanks to a brace from Ed Sheldon as well as a score from Owen Hills and a Penalty Try.

Park’s six points had come from the boot of Harry Leonard and they fell further behind when James Williams landed a penalty on the hour.

The visitors, who had won their last six games prior to this fixture, were shown two yellow cards in the first-half, but finally had something to smile about when Tom Vaughan-Edwards and Harry Hudson crossed in the final 10 minutes.

However, Park had two more players sent to the sin-bin in a heated final few minutes of the match which saw Moseley awarded a second Penalty Try which wrapped up the victory for the hosts.

Fylde 33-24 Coventry

Fylde produced a stunning comeback against Coventry at Woodlands to secure their first win of 2017 and ease their relegation worries.

With 13 minutes remaining Paul Arnold’s men found themselves 24-12 behind, but a brace from Connor Wilkinson and a try from Chris Briers saw them complete a superb fightback.

The game was level at 12-12 at the break with Fylde’s scores coming via Jack Turley and Matt Rogerson while Coventry’s tries were scored by Tom Wheatcroft and Josh Peters.

Cov flew out of the blocks in the second period and were rewarded for their quick start as Will Maisey and Heath Stevens put them 12 points ahead.

However, the drama than began to unfold. Coventry were reduced to 14-men when Tony Fenner was yellow-carded and Fylde took full advantage of his absence as Wilkson grabbed his first try of the afternoon.

Wilkinson doubled his tally two minutes later to put Fylde 26-24 ahead and then rounded off their comeback when Briers darted over to seal a crucial win for Fylde.

Loughborough Students 39-46 Old Albanian

Braces for Craig Dowsett and Oli Burgess saw Old Albanian overcome a persistent Loughborough Students at Epinal way.

Dowsett grabbed both of his scores in the first-half and he was joined on the scoresheet by Nick Foster and Harry Bate as the OAs led 24-22 at the break in this pulsating contest.

Loughborough’s tries came via Will Edwards, Gair Currie and Charlie Dockery in the first period.

Alex Glixten, Tom Bendall and Burgess (twice) and another conversion from Ben Palmer ensured victory in this topsy-turvy encounter, but Loughborough deservedly earned bonus points thanks to Dockery’s second score as well as a try from Dan Moolman.

Macclesfield 24-36 Cambridge

Macclesfield saw a 12-0 slip away from them in the first-half as they fell to defeat against Cambridge who ended a run of six straight defeats.

Both sides headed into this fixture in wretched form, but this was an important win for the visitors who are now 16 points clear of the relegation zone thanks to this five-try victory.

Macclesfield were the better side in the opening 20 minutes in Cheshire with David Marwick scoring both of their tries.

But they crumbled after that as Cambridge fought back with tries from Stef Liebenburg and Tom Nutley.

The Blues responded as Lewis Winterbottom put them back in front, but the game was level at the break as Oli Petridas crossed for the Blood and Sand.

Macc again showed great spirit to retake the lead after half-time as Joe Palmer crossed, but Cambridge took control of the second period and wrapped up the win in the final 10 minutes thanks to a second score from Liebenburg and a try from Albert Portsmouth.

Esher 47-19 Hull Ionians

Esher beat Hull Ionians to seal their second home win on the spin and ease any relegation worries the Surrey-based side may have had.

Esher crossed twice inside 15 minutes and two more unconverted scores gave them a 26-14 interval lead, with Dan Tai and Phil Eggleshaw crossing for the visitors.

The hosts continued to run riot in the second-half adding three more tries to give them an unassailable lead while Eggleshaw crossed for his second and a consolation try for Hull Ionians who remain firmly embroiled in the relegation battle.