Macclesfield tighten grip on title in weekend of drama in National Two North

This weekend was all about getting the job done for Macclesfield and the league leaders did just that, but that isn't the full picture of events that took place on Saturday.

Second placed Sedgley Park looked all set to take on Sandal at Park Lane, but the Yorkshire side declined and some say controversially refused to play the match due to standing water and the state of the pitch in Manchester.

This has sparked a lot of debate between the two clubs for obvious reasons and the match has now been rescheduled for March 12th.

Elsewhere towards the top the drama continued as Stourbridge fell to defeat once again and lost further ground in the promotion race while Caldy and Leicester Lions cranked up the pressure on the Midlands side.

At the bottom, there were crucial wins for Sale FC and the Luctonians as both sides continue to battle for their National Two North statues next year.

Macclesfield 33-26 Tynedale

Ryan Parkinson scored a hat-trick as league leaders Macclesfield edged a 33-26 victory over Tynedale at Priory Park.

Parkinson’s first try helped Macclesfield take a 7-0 lead and that was swiftly followed by scores from Elliot Brierley and David Marwick to put the Blues in control after 26 minutes.

But the home side’s intensity dropped in the final 10 minutes of the half and Tynedale capitalised as Ben Bell showed clever footwork to score under the sticks.

After the break, Tyne continued to look the better side and were rewarded when Benjamin Haigh dotted down from close range and suddenly the north-east side were right back in the contest.

However, a yellow card to William Miller halted Tynedale’s progress which allowed Macclesfield to kill off the contest as Parkinson scored a quick fire brace to complete his hat-trick.

Tyne’s spirit wasn’t dead and buried though, as they rallied in the final 10 minutes of the game to score two more tries through Jack Harrison and Haigh again to save two late and well deserved bonus points.

Reaction

Macclesfield Head Coach Giles Heagerty: “Defensively we’ve got work to do. It’s the first time this season we’ve conceded the four try bonus point, and there were too many clean line breaks. As a side we’re trying to evolve, and I think we’re showing that in our attack but we seemed to switch off defensively.

Tynedale coach Matt Fieldhouse: “It was always going to be tough. We knew what they were all about. We just wanted to keep our foundations and build from there. We struggled early on but credit to the lads, I thought for the majority of the last 50 minutes I thought we really put ourselves into the game and deserved to come away with two points. They could be huge for us in the future.”

Stoubridge 3-10 Leicester Lions

Leicester Lions are now just four points behind the play-off place in National Two North as they beat third placed Stourbridge to secure just their third away win of the season.

Samuel Benjamin’s try on the stroke of half-time helped Leicester into a 5-0 lead and a second score from William Roach on the 48^th minute extended their advantage.

Stourbridge’s Thomas Mitchell reduced the Lions’ lead to 7 when he nudged over a penalty 12 minutes from time, but that is all the hosts could manage as they slipped to back to back defeats.

Stour passed up the chance to move back into second place after Sedgley’s game was called off as their promotion ambitions took another set-back.

Caldy 31-6 South Leicester

Gavin Roberts scored 21 points as Caldy ran out comfortable winners at Paton Field against South Leicester to keep up the pressure on their promotion rivals.

The visitors landed two early penalties via the boot of William Sutton before Caldy came back to carry a lead into half time.

Roberts’ two penalties leveled the scores before Andrew Souter crossed and Roberts added another penalty to give his side a 16-6 lead.

Roberts nailed a fourth kick from tee after the break before he decided to score a try of his own on 63 minutes which he converted.

The Wirral side rounded off proceedings with a John Weir try and now they are just two points off second place.

Sale FC 22-16 Otley

Sale FC ended a five-game losing streak, and eased their relegation worries, with a gritty win over Otley.

Sale have slipped down the table since the turn year and were slowly being dragged into a relegation battle.

But John O’Donnell’s early try and a penalty from Liam McGovern at Heywood Road settled home nerves.

And although a try by fly-half Neil Chivers kept Otley in touch just after half-time, a score from William Davies restored Sale’s 10 point advantage.

Joshua Cruise landed a penalty for Otley to make it 15-8 on 68 minutes before Tom Davenport and James Wood exchanged tries as Sale closed out a deserved victory.

Huddersfield 9-22 Harrogate

17 points from Lewis Minikin guided Harrogate to victory over Huddersfield who remain rooted to the bottom of National Two North.

The full back kicked 14 of those points in the first half and was backed up by a score from Callum Irvine to give ‘Gate a 3-19 half-time lead with Chris Bell replying for the hosts.

‘Field could only manage two more penalties after the break via Bell, but it seemed fitting that Minkin nudged over the final three points of the day to wrap up Harrogate’s ninth win of the season.

This latest defeat for Huddersfield means they are still 10 points off safety, but time is starting to run out for the men from Lockwood Park.

Preston Grasshoppers 31-13 Broadstreet

Preston Grasshoppers maintained their excellent recent form after easing to victory against relegation threatened Broadstreet at Lightfoot Green.

Garth Dew’s men were excellent, triumphing by 18 points in Lancashire which now sees them move up to ninth in the table after just one defeat in their last nine games.

Sean Taylor scored all 10 of Hoppers’ points in the first half with Aaron Martin responding with a score for ‘Street.

After the break, the home side wrapped up the bonus point as Lewis Allen, Harrison Moulding and Taylor again all crossed and they punished Broadstreet every time the Midlands side looked like they were getting back into the contest.

‘Street only managed a penalty from Lee Chapman and a try from Jake Dodd in the second period as they remain in the bottom three after their this defeat.

Chester 25-27 Luctonians

The Luctonians had to fend off a spirited Chester comeback to secure back to back wins which now leaves them four points from safety.

The Lucts also have a game in hand over their relegation rivals so those two vital recent victories are just what the doctor ordered at the start of the year for Herefordshire side.

A brace from Mike Cheasley, a score by Daniel Smith and a Penalty Try sealed the bonus-points for Lucts after 34 minutes and gave them 0-24 lead at half-time.

The Luctonians were then called into defensive duties for the majority of the second period as Chester mounted a fightback.

Fly-half Rhys Hayes knocked over two penalties and a conversion from Callum Bennett’s try to pull his side back into the contest just after the hour.

Louis Silver offered some brief rest bite for the Lucts as he landed a penalty to begin the final quarter of this enthralling match, but when Alex Smith was sin-binned six minutes from the end and with the score at 13-27, there was a glimmer of hope for Chester.

Chester were then shown a red-card on 77 minutes, but that didn’t stop them in their tracks as another two tries drew them within a point of the Lucts.

However, they failed with the conversion from their final score and the away side left Cheshire with the spoils as their rival continues.