Is there still a glimmer of hope for Macclesfield?
Macclesfield still have a lot of work to do to avoid the drop, but they still have a chance of a great escape
©Nick Jones
National One’s bottom club Macclesfield may well have handed themselves a lifeline in their battle against relegation after a spirited display against Birmingham Moseley.
Giles Heagerty’s men performed valiantly in the Midlands and came away from Billesley Common with two bonus-points after suffering their 22nd defeat of the campaign.
This result for the Blues means they are now 15 points from safety with four matches left to play and with their relegation rivals failing to secure points in Round 26, there may well be a glimmer of hope for Macclesfield.
Both Blaydon and Hull Ionians fell to defeats away at second placed Plymouth Albion and third placed Ampthill respectively, while Esher look as though they are now safe after a resounding away win against Old Albanian.
Elsewhere in National One, champions Hartpury College remain on course to complete this season unbeaten as they secured their 26th straight victory against an impressive Darlington Mowden Park side while Rosslyn Park’s fine form continued at home to Fylde.
Other fixtures in the division saw Rowland Winter earn a victory on his return to Cambridge while Loughborough put a halt to their winless run.
Darlington Mowden Park 26-34 Hartpury College
Hartpury College secured a hard-fought win over Darlington Mowden Park as the newly crowned National One champions remain unbeaten this season.
The visitors went 21-14 up at the break thanks to tries from Mat Protheroe, Jonas Mikalcius and Jake Polledri while James Barnard and Adam Radwan crossed for DMP who battled well in the first period.
The home side reduced the deficit further after the restart as Radwan darted over for an unconverted score, but Hartpury continued to remain at arm’s length as Levi Davies capitalised on a yellow-card shown to DMP’s Matt Heaton to go over for College’s bonus-point try.
Mike Flook extended the away sides’ lead before DMP crossed again via Garry Law.
But despite a spirited performance by the hosts, Hartpury sealed their 26th victory of the season when Robbie Shaw landed a penalty late on.
Plymouth Albion 45-0 Blaydon
Plymouth Albion edged closer to securing second spot in National One after a convincing bonus-point victory over a much-changed Blaydon.
Albion skipper Michael Stupple opened the scoring, but that proved to be the only try of the first period as Blaydon more than matched their opponents at Brickfields.
However, it took just four minutes after the interval for the floodgates to open. Sam Holmes got the ball rolling before Matt Crosscombe grabbed a brace to put Plymouth in complete control.
Kieran Hallett’s side continued to be in a rampant mood as Nile Dacres, Harvey Skinner and Matt Shepherd all crossed to complete a stunning second-half performance by Albion who have now won their last nine matches.
Ampthill and District 31-11 Hull Ionians
Hull Ionians were unable to close the gap to relegation rivals Blaydon as they were outplayed by third placed Ampthill and District at Dillingham Park.
A penalty try as well as scores from Aleki Lutui and Karim Lynch saw the hosts lead 17-11 at half-time, with Alex Forth going over for the I’s.
The second period was dominated by the A’s as Loti Molitika smashed his way over before Kevin Barrett crossed while Stef Jones landed two penalties to wrap up a comfortable win for the Bedfordshire side.
Birmingham Moseley 28-24 Macclesfield
Bottom of the table Macclesfield mounted a spirted comeback against Birmingham Moseley, but they were unable to snatch victory in a pulsating game at Billesley Common.
Franky Barker touched down to open the scoring for the visitors, but tries from Chris Brightwell, Ed Sheldon and Afeafe Haisila helped Moseley into a 21-7 half-time lead.
Macc were well and truly back in this contest just before the hour as a lightening start to the second-half saw Tim Jeffers and Ryan Parkinson both go over to reduce Moseley’s lead to two points.
Haisila steadied the Moseley ship on 67 minutes as he scored a fortuities second try, but a score from Macc winger Myles Hall set-up a nervy finish for Kevin Maggs’ side.
However, there was to be no final twist in the tail as Moseley hung on for their second win in three matches while the two bonus-points for Macc has given them a glimmer of hope that they can stay in this division.
Rosslyn Park 36-19 Fylde
Rosslyn Park made it 10 wins from their last 11 matches as they recovered from a slow start to beat Fylde.
The London-based side were 14 points down inside 23 minutes as Ben Vernon and the returning David Fairbrother both crossed.
But Fylde’s advantage was cut to just two points as Josh Watkins capitalised on a yellow-card shown to Warren Spragg to touch down before Rhys Crane grabbed a breakaway try for the hosts.
Watkins claimed his second after the interval, but despite Jack Turley’s close range effort for Fylde, Park were able to take control of the game as Jamie Harris and Ali Wade both scored tries in the final 10 minutes to seal the win.
Cambridge 27-36 Coventry
Coventry withstood a second-half fightback from Cambridge to clinch their fourth win in a row on Rowland Winter’s return to Volac Park.
All hope seemed lost for the hosts as braces from Tom Howe and Max Trimble as well as a score from Rob Knox gave the visitors a 36-15 lead, with Ben Ibrahim and George Furbank crossing for Cambridge.
Tries from Cameron Ruddock and Tom Trotter dragged Cambridge back into the contest with eight minutes remaining, but Cov were able to see out the rest of the match as they sealed their fourth away victory of the campaign.
Loughborough Students 35-32 Blackheath
Loughborough Students ended a run of six successive defeats with an entertaining victory over Blackheath at Epinal Way.
Both sides had been going through some patchy recent form, but Loughborough shaded the opening 40 minutes and led 13-10 at the break.
A try Jack Moates and eight points from the boot of Will Kaye helped the hosts go ahead while Simon Whatling crossed for the visitors.
After half-time, both sides exchanged scores before a Blackheath penalty tied the game up at 20-20.
Yiannis Loizias crossed for a converted try on the hour, but ‘Club’ responded yet again as they went over for an unconverted score.
Loughborough now held a two point lead, but any nerves they may have had vanished with four minutes remaining as Kaye slotted over another a penalty before also crossing for a try.
Blackheath made sure they left the Midlands with two bonus points as they went over for their fifth score of the afternoon right at the death, but it was Loughbourgh who secured the much needed win.
Old Albanian 19-65 Esher
Esher eased any relegation worries they may have had by scoring eight tries in a comfortable win over Old Albanian.
The Surrey side, who had won just once away from home all season prior to this fixture, were 27-7 ahead at half-time thanks to tries by Tom James, Chris Hala’ufia and James Lang.
Sam Stanley, Spencer Sutherland, Calum Waters, Joe Beckett and Lang again added further tries.
Old Albanian’s three scores came from Craig Dowsett as well as Penalty Try.
