Hartpury College aiming to stay out in front

Across all three National League divisions, only one side has breathing space at the top of their league and that is Hartpury College in National One.

College have not only picked up maximum points from their opening games of the season, but have seen off some of the potential promotion candidates in the process. This week they travel to Surrey to take on Esher as they look to continue their perfect start.

Birmingham Moseley and Ampthill & District are the only other sides who are yet to be beaten this season so they too will hoping they can stretch their winning streak to three matches.

Elsewhere across the division, Cambridge and the Old Albanian lock horns once again, Macclesfield and Loughborough will be looking to build on last weekend’s triumphs while Plymouth Albion, Rosslyn Park, Fylde and Blackheath aim to kick start their campaigns.

Esher v Hartpury College

Esher welcome league leaders Hartpury College to Molesey Road this weekend as they look to bounce back from their defeat last Saturday. Esher lost 13-6 away at Blackheath six days ago and if they are serious promotion candidates, they will need to pick up their second home win of the campaign.

Table topping Hartpury College couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. After missing out on the title in Round 28 last season, they have begun this campaign with bonus point wins over Blackheath and Plymouth Albion. This is College’s first away fixture of the season as they look to keep up their 100 per cent start to this term.

Hull Ionians v Birmingham Moseley

Hull Ionians will be bitterly disappointed to have lost to Loughborough Students last week following their excellent opening day win over Darlington Mowden Park. The I’s were in a relegation battle with Loughborough last term and that must’ve been a fixture which Alex Crockett and his side targeted as a winnable match. Now they must respond back at Brantingham Park, but it won’t be easy against Birmingham Moseley who remain unbeaten so far this season.

Following relegation from the Championship, Birmingham Moseley have responded well to that disappointment. A victory against Fylde was followed up by an excellent win over a strong Coventry side last weekend so Kevin Maggs' team will be looking to continue their superb start when they take the trip to Yorkshire on Saturday.

Ampthill & District v Darlington Mowden Park

Ampthill and District left it late to see off the Old Albanian last weekend, but Joe Tarrant’s penalty made sure it was two wins from two for the Bedfordshire side so far this term. The A’s looked strong last season and appear to do so this campaign as well. Ampthill are back at Dillingham Park this weekend where they have lost just two of their last 31 games.

With that in mind, it will be a tough task for Darlington Mowden Park this Saturday. However, they will be heading down the A1 full of confidence after a last-gasp win over neighbours Blaydon six days ago. Mowden Park began the season with an away defeat to Hull Ionians, but will be looking for their maiden win on the road this weekend.

Coventry v Macclesfield

Rowland Winter’s new look Coventry side suffered a narrow defeat to Birmingham Moseley last weekend so they will be hoping to respond on Saturday back at the Butts Park Arena where they welcome Macclesfield. Coventry began their season with a home win over Loughborough Students and with a few faces returning to the 1^st XV fold, Coventry will be looking to build on their positive start.

It was a positive weekend for Macclesfield last Saturday as they picked up their first win following promotion from National Two North last season. The Blues were outstanding in their 44-22 victory over Fylde and the Cheshire side will be targeting their maiden away triumph of the campaign when they travel to the Midlands tomorrow. Added to this, Macc have signed Joe Hutchinson on loan from Rotherham this week.

Cambridge v Old Albanian

Last season, Cambridge and the Old Albanian were battling it out for the National Two South title right up until the very last day of the campaign. In the end, Cambridge prevailed and earnt automatic promotion to National One, but the OA’s joined them in the third tier following their play-off win against Sedgley Park.

Now both sides meet again at this level and both have begun this season with one win and one defeat. Cambridge lost their opening match away at Plymouth Albion, but bounced back to seal an impressive victory on the road against Rosslyn Park. As for the OA’s they comfortably beat Blaydon on their travels in round one, but fell to an agonising defeat last week against Ampthill & District. Both games between these two sides were entertaining last year, but who will come out on top at Volac Park this Saturday?

Plymouth Albion v Rosslyn Park

It has not been the start Plymouth Albion and Rosslyn Park would’ve hoped for. It was all change for Albion in the summer as they brought Dan Parks in to lead the 1^st XV and his side has had mixed results thus far. A hard-fought win over Cambridge was followed by a defeat to Hartpury College leaving the men from Brickfields mid-table at this early stage.

As for Park, with so much hope for a stronger start to this season than the last, it just hasn’t gone to plan for Andy Holloway’s men. Defeats to Ampthill and Cambridge leaves Rosslyn in the bottom three and this fixture for both sides on Saturday could really be the catalyst they need to kick start their seasons.

Fylde v Blackheath

I think Paul Arnold and his Fylde side would have been frustrated by their display in Cheshire against Maccelsfield last weekend. After a positive performance against a strong Birmingham Moseley outfit, they just weren’t at the races against Giles Heagerty’s side. Now, the men from Woodlands will be looking for a reaction this Saturday when they welcome Blackheath to Lancashire in this traditional fixture.

Blackheath have won just two of their meetings with Fylde over the last five years and they will be desperate to add another W to that record on Saturday. Club, who had such a strong campaign last season, clinched their first win of the term against Esher last week following a humbling defeat to Hartpury on the opening day. Can they make it back-to-back victories tomorrow?

Bladyon v Loughborough Students

Blaydon will have been crestfallen after their derby defeat to Darlington Mowden Park last week. They found themselves 14-0 up heading into the final quarter of the match, but saw that lead slip away as they fell to a defeat. It means the North-East side are still winless as they head into this clash with Loughborough Students, a side who they finished above last season.

In terms of Loughborough, they will be pleased to have got off the mark for this campaign at home to Hull Ionians last week. Ciaran Beattie and Dave Morris’ side responded well after a thumping by Coventry on the opening day and will want to pick up just their fifth away win in 16 matches on Saturday.