Leaders Hartpury make it 10 in a row to stretch lead

Hartpury College’s superb run of results in National One continued in Round 10 as another bonus-point victory leaves them eight points clear at the top of this division.

College have picked up maximum points from the first third of this season, but they had to battle hard for their latest win against a valiant Rosslyn Park side.

Birmingham Moseley are continuing to hunt down Hartpury as they made it nine wins from their first 10 matches over the weekend while there were late victories for Plymouth Albion, Coventry and Fylde.  Elsewhere, there were wins for Blackheath and Esher as well as a much needed boost for Macclesfield.

Hartpury College 37-27 Rosslyn Park

Hartpury College claimed their 10^th successive bonus-point win as their perfect start to the season continued thanks to this hard-fought victory over Rosslyn Park.

Park had their hosts on the back-foot when Hugo Ellis dotted down after seven minutes while the boot of Scott Sneddon put the away side 10-0 in front early on.

But, Hartpury hit back with three tries in 18 minutes to take a firm grip on proceedings. A brace from Jonas Mikalcius and a score from Steve Leonard put College in front.

Mikalcius’ completed his hat-trick and Joe Dancer also crossed for the home side five minutes into the second-half to put the result beyond doubt, but late tries from Henry Robinson and Sneddon were consolation for Park who can take positives from this result.

Birmingham Moseley 47-19 Loughborough Students

Birmingham Moseley ran out comfortable winners over a spirited Loughborough Students as they look to close gap between themselves and Hartpury College.

Moseley led this contest 19-14 at half-time thanks to tries from Mark Harrison, George Oram and Drew Cheshire, with Josh Sharp and Harry Simmons crossing for Loughborough.

It was a much tougher second 40 for the Students as the home side scored 14 unanswered points just before the hour as Oram and Cheshire both dotted down once again.

Will Edwards’ score on 70 minutes gave Loughborough hope that they may snatch a bonus point from this game, but Ed Sheldon and James Burgoyne crossed for Moseley to seal their ninth win from 10 matches so far this term.

Blackheath 13-7 Old Albanian

Blackheath returned to winning ways in Round 10 as they edged out the Old Albanian at Wells Hall.

James Davies’ try along with eight points from the boot of Simon Whatling gave Club a 13-7 lead at the break only after Oli Burgess had opened the scoring for the afternoon for the OA’s.

Blackheath seemed to have the edge at set-pieces in the second period, but failed to fashion any clear cut-chances while the OA’s retained the ball well.

And it was the visitors that nearly won this match right at the end of what had been a very cagey second-half, but their sweeping counter attack was thwarted by superb defending.

Hull Ionians 18-24 Plymouth Albion

A late minute Penalty Try saw Plymouth Albion snatch the win from Hull Ionians at Brantingham Park.

Two Greg Lound penalties and try from Laurence Cowen gave Hull Ionians an 11-3 lead at the break with Matt Shepherd providing the points from the tee for Plymouth.

Albion then went ahead after the restart as Rupert Freestone and Matthew Crosscombe both went over, but The I’s looked as though they had secured victory when hooker Alistair Thomson crossed eight minutes from the end.

However, Plymouth pilled on the pressure and were awarded a Penalty Try right at the death to seal their seventh win of the campaign while Hull Ionians remain in the bottom three.

Coventry 19-17 Blaydon

Coventry winger Dan Rundle scored a last-minute to try to steal a victory away from a spirited Blaydon side at the Butts Park Arena.

With Cov trailing by two points, Rundle sped over right at the end of this contest to stretch the home sides’ winning streak to four matches.

Coventry led 14-10 at the break thanks to tries from Tom Jubb and Ron Knox, with Blaydon replying through Chris Wearmouth. Despite their half-time advantage, Coventry were unable to stretch their lead and Blaydon’s power up-front was frustrating the home side.

The game then became disjointed and despite the pressure coming from Coventry, Blaydon left the home crowd shell-shocked as they moved in front for the first time in this match with a minute remaining thanks to a Cameron Bell score.

Brett Connon converted leaving them 17-14 in front, before Coventry sparked into life and retaliated. They hammered away at the Blaydon defence before the visitors finally cracked as Rundell powered over to snatch the win for Coventry leaving Blaydon crestfallen.  

Fylde 13-11 Ampthill and District

Greg Smith’s late penalty saw Fylde keep up their impressive record at Woodlands as they made it four home wins on the spin with victory over Ampthill and District.

The game was level at 0-0 at the break following an even first half as Fylde looked to hit Ampthill on the break while the visitors tried to put a dent in the sturdy home defence.

It took just three minutes of the second period for the deadlock to be broken though as Sam Baker sniped over from close range.

Joe Bercis was then sin-binned for the A’s but they did extend their lead in his absence as Joe Tarrant landed a penalty on 58 minutes. However, Fylde then took advantage of the extra man as Jordan Dorrington crossed to bring the home side within three points of their visitors.

With Ampthill now back to their full complement of players, it was Fylde who delivered the next blow as Ralph Dowds eluded his opposition to touchdown in fine fashion to put his side in front.

Another Tarrant penalty on 78 minutes put Ampthill ahead once again and it looked as though they would travel back down to Bedfordshire with a victory, but Smith kept his cool to slot over a penalty (despite missing one moments earlier) to steal the win for Fylde.

Esher 40-32 Cambridge

Esher battled back from a disappointing first-half display to beat Cambridge and extend their winning run at home to three matches.

It was Cambridge who were 20-15 ahead at half-time thanks to tries from Stefan Liebenburg and James Ayrton while Jack Green kicked the other 10 points.

The visitors had capitalised on Esher mistakes after the home side had begun strongly thanks to a score from Gabriel Ibitoye before Ollie Marriott touched down just before the break.

After half-time, Esher looked a different proposition and within a minute of the restart the hosts had closed the gap as Stephen Boatman landed his second penalty of the afternoon.

Esher were in the ascendancy and they made their excellent start to the second period count as Cameron Gentles scored underneath the posts to put the home side in front. The hosts then scored two quick-fire tries through Archie White and Joe Beckett to give themselves a 37-20 advantage.

With 15 minutes left on the clock, Cambridge came back at Esher as Chris Leatham and Tom Nutley both scored tries, either side of another Boatman penalty, to earn a try scoring bonus-point but it was Esher who held on for another home triumph.

Macclesfield 43-16 Darlington Mowden Park

Macclesfield moved off the bottom of National One thanks to just their second win of the season against Darlington Mowden Park

Nick Allsop’s score after 11 minutes had put Macc ahead and they built on that before half-times as tries from Liam Parfitt and Sam Moss gave the Blues a 17-9 half-time advantage.

A Penalty Try after the break confirmed Macclesfield’s superiority in this game as DMP could only muster up three first-half penalties from the boot of Caolan Ryan.

Myles Hall then crossed to extend the hosts’ lead on 52 minutes before Darlington produced their first try of the match as Adam Radwan dived under the posts.

But that was as it good as it got on a tough afternoon for DMP as Macc put the icing on the cake when Ryan Parkinson and Hall again both touching down to seal a morale boosting win for the Cheshire side.