National Two North Preview: Round 11

Ampthill and District will most certainly have an eye on the game of the weekend this Saturday as third placed Chester welcome second placed Hull Ionains which will test the title credentials of both teams.

I am sure Ampthill will be getting regular updates from Chester, but they have their own job to do as they travel to Huddersfield to stretch their winning run to four matches. The league leaders have lost just once all season and will be looking to take advantage of Chester playing Hull Ionians this Saturday. As for Huddersfield, they will be looking to return to winning ways after being stunned by bottom club Stockport last weekend, but this is probably the toughest task they could’ve asked for after last Saturday’s defeat.

So we mentioned it briefly a moment ago but let’s look at this further: Chester v Hull Ionians. The hosts have won their last six games and are seven points behind Hull Ionians in the league table. They have won all their games at Hare Lane this season which include Ampthill’s only defeat of the campaign. They welcome the Humberside outfit who have only lost one of their last 27 National League Two North matches, but will be weary of the threat Chester cause. A mouth-watering prospect awaits

Otley maybe hoping for Chester’s sublime form to come to an end this weekend as they continued to hunt the top three down. Sitting in fourth place, they returned to winning ways last weekend beating Hull 30-0. They also boast the league’s highest try scorer in Harry Hudson and he may well be adding to his 11 tries this weekend as his side travel to Leicester Lions. The hosts lie in eight in the division and have won five games so far this season. They did beat Otley 21-9 in this corresponding fixture 12 months ago.

Sedgley Park got their season back on track last weekend after three straight defeats, but have all the capabilities to push on as they make the trip to Stourbridge on Saturday. The Tigers have lost their last three against Stourbridge. As for the hosts, they have not lived up to the heights of last season as yet, having being so close to promotion. Currently, they are languishing in tenth and have only won twice at home all season.

Harrogate certainly would’ve have been the more disappointed of the two sides when they came away with a draw from Birmingham and Solihull last weekend. That allowed Sedgley Park to move ahead of them in the table, but they will want to bounce back as they host out-of-form Preston Grashoppers on Saturday. The home side have only lost once in nine games with their last home defeat coming on the opening day of the season against Stourbridge. In terms of Preston they are struggling and have fallen dramatically in the last few weeks into the bottom five. The history books aren’t on the Hoppers side either. They have only won nine of the 38 meetings between the sides with two of those wins for Preston coming last season.

Caldy are on the rise again after back to back wins against Broadstreet and Otley. This weekend they welcome Stockport to Paton Fields for their third consecutive home game. Caldy have not lost at home all season, with Port not even picking up a single point on the road. The visitors have shipped 50 points plus in their last three away games, but are currently full of confidence after their first win of the season last weekend against Huddersfield. Caldy won this fixture two years ago, but Stockport won 29-14 the last time the sides faced each other.

Now we come to clashes towards the bottom half of the table as the Luctonians are at home to Birmingham and Solihull whilst Hull hosts Broadstreet. All of these sides will be looking to put vital points on the board to move away from the relegation zone. The Luctonians have only three wins to their name this season, but have won two of their last three games. Birmingham and Solihull will take confidence into Saturday after that draw with Harrogate as The B’s go in search of their first win in three games.

As for Hull, they only have one win on home soil this season and that came three weeks ago when they outclassed Caldy. In terms of Broadstreet, they were excellent against Caldy last weekend and are on the road for an amazing seventh time this season on Saturday looking for their second win of the season.