Hartpury College have issued the perfect response to missing out on promotion last season by winning their first five games of this term an establishing a comfortable early lead at the summit of National One.
College currently sit seven points clear of the rest of the field after just five rounds and will be keen to extend their 100 per cent start when they welcome Hull Ionians to Gloucester this Saturday.
Second placed Birmingham Moseley will be hoping for a swift response following their first defeat of the term while Plymouth Albion, Ampthill & District and Blackheath will be looking to maintain their impressive recent form.
Elsewhere in National One, Fylde and Rosslyn Park will be eager to build on their first victories of the season from last weekend while Bladyon will be itching to claim their maiden triumph of the campaign.
Hartpury College v Hull Ionians
Following Birmingham Moseley’s defeat to Ampthill last Saturday, Hartpury College are now the only side in National One to have won their first five fixtures of the season. College once again picked up maximum points last weekend with a hard-fought victory over Coventry meaning they now lead this division by seven points at this early stage of the season.
They host Hull Ionians this weekend who travel to Gloucestershire on the back of a narrow defeat against Blackheath. The I’s were on the verge of clinching their third win of the season until a late Leo Fielding penalty snatched the victory for Club. The Yorkshire side head into this fixture with two victories to their name – one of which came in their last away match against Macclesfield. Can they replicate that performance on the road once again?
Birmingham Moseley v Cambridge
Birmingham Moseley suffered their first loss since relegation from the Championship last weekend. They were beaten away from home by Ampthill and District and now the second placed side will be keen for a reaction when they host Cambridge. Moseley have won both of their fixtures at Billesley Common this season.
Cambridge come into this fixture in a buoyant mood. Their sensational turnaround against Loughborough Students last weekend secured Ross Stewart’s side their second win of the season and their first at Volac Park. The Blood and Sand currently occupy 11th place in the table following their promotion from National Two South and Cambridge will now be searching for their second win on the road in this campaign, but it will be a tough ask for them this weekend.
Fylde v Plymouth Albion
Fylde would’ve been relieved to finally get their first victory of the season last weekend as they saw off Esher at Woodlands. Paul Arnold’s men are at home once again this Saturday looking for back to back victories as they aim to move further away from the bottom three even at this early stage of the campaign.
They welcome an in-form Plymouth Albion side to Lancashire tomorrow who seem to have settled down to life under new coach Dan Parkes extremely well. After a defeat to league leaders Hartpury in round two, Albion have put together three straight wins and will be looking to make it four victories in a row this weekend. Plymouth will be hoping for a repeat of last year’s result in this corresponding fixture when they scored three tries in the final seven minutes to secure a 38-26 win.
Macclesfield v Ampthill and District
Reading the Macclesfield club website, Head Coach Giles Heagerty has used the word ‘frustrated’ a few times this season and that word will certainly have been used to describe their 24-24 draw with Blaydon last weekend. The Blues had led by 19 points at half-time, but let the win slip away from them in the second period meaning Macc welcome Ampthill to Priory Park with just one win to their name since promotion from National Two North in May.
Ampthill and District will travel to Cheshire in a positive frame of mind. The Bedfordshire side defeated Birmingham Moseley last weekend to not only end their unbeaten start to the season, but return to winning ways themselves at Dillingham Park after a rare defeat against Darlington Mowden Park earlier in the campaign. The A’s rise up the National League ladder has been impressive and judging by four wins from their first five games this term, it looks set to continue in 2016/17 as they go in search of another victory this weekend.
Blackheath v Blaydon
Blackheath left it late to earn their fourth victory in a row as they beat Hull Ionians at Brantingham Park last week. Tomorrow they return to their new home of Well Hall with the second best form in the table currently. Their opening day defeat to Hartpury seems a distant memory and Club will be looking to make it five in a row when the fourth placed side host Blaydon this weekend.
In contrast, Blaydon’s form has been poor. The north-east club currently sit bottom of the National One table and are the only side without a win so far this term. However, Blaydon would have taken a lot of positives from their spirted fightback against Macclesfield last weekend, but this will be a tough ask for them to get anything from this fixture against a rampant Blackheath side.
Darlington Mowden Park v Old Albanian
Darlington Mowden Park’s recent good form suffered a blip last weekend as they became Rosslyn Park’s first victims of the season. DMP currently sit sixth in the table with three wins from their first five games of the season as they prepare to welcome the Old Albanian to the Arena this Saturday. DMP have won 14 of their last 17 games on home soil.
Before their fixture with Plymouth Albion, Coach James Shanahan stated that his Old Albanian side's next two fixtures would be tough games and he was proved right last Saturday as the OA’s were brushed aside by Albion. He’ll be hoping that isn’t the case this weekend when the OA’s take the trip north to Darlington looking for their fourth win of the campaign following promotion via the National Two play-off five months ago.
Esher v Coventry
Since their narrow win over Macclesfield on the opening weekend of the season, it has been a frustrating start to the campaign for Esher. The Surrey-based side were plagued by inconsistency last term which hampered their chances of a promotion challenge and any ambitions they may have had for the title this season are looking all but over even at this early stage. Esher are currently second bottom having lost their last four games heading into this fixture with Coventry.
Coventry have been out of sorts lately too. Optimism was high at the Butts Park Arena at the start of the new season as a new look Cov side under the reign of new Director of Rugby Roland Winter got off to a flyer, but it hasn’t gone to plan since then. The Blue and Whites travel south this Saturday on the back of two straight defeats as they go in search of their first away win of the season.
Loughborough Students v Rosslyn Park
It may have taken a few hours for the Loughborough Students players to get over their defeat to Cambridge last Saturday. Students had a 20 point lead with 10 minutes remaining at Volac Park and somehow ended up losing the match. They will be hoping for a positive response this weekend when they host Rosslyn Park with Students looking for their third win of the season.
Rosslyn Park will travel to the Midlands in a positive mood. They finally got off the mark for the campaign last weekend as they beat Darlington Mowden Park and now Rosslyn will be looking to back that victory up to build some momentum in what has been a below-par season for Andy Holloway’s men so far. Can they make it two wins on the spin this weekend?
