National Two North: Sedgley have sights set on five wins from five

We are now into our second month of the season and Sedgley Park’s perfect record still remains intact – just. They are still being hunted down by Sandal who continue to prove any doubters wrong while Macclesfield are close behind and gathering momentum. 

Leicester Lions, Chester and Caldy are going about their business nicely while there are a few teams that could do with some morale boosting wins to kick-start their season. Here is a preview of all the action this weekend in Round Five of National Two North.

Sedgley Park v Luctonians

After scraping past Otley in dramatic fashion last week, Sedgley Park maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with their fourth successive bonus point win. They sit three points clear at the top of the table and welcome the Luctonians to Park Lane this Saturday.

The Luctonians got their first win of the season last week with victory over Huddersfield, but they will have a tough test on their hands to make it back to back wins this Saturday. The Lucts did lose this fixture 49-12 last season, but did beat Sedgley at Mortimer Park at the end of February.

Huddersfield v Sandal

I’m not sure whether we can continue to say Sandal are surprising everyone this season. Four straight wins after promotion via the National Three North playoff last season is starting to look less like a fluke as every week passes. The Wakefield side take the short trip to Huddersfield this weekend and know if Sedgley fail to win, and they are victorious at Lockwood Park, Sandal will be top on Saturday night.

It was a disappointing performance from ‘Field last week away at the Luctonians as they suffered their second away defeat of the season. They lost at home last time against Otley so they could do with a much needed win this Saturday to move out of the relegation zone.

Macclesfield v South Leicester

Macclesfield moved into the top three for the first time this season after three straight wins. Now, they return to Priory Park looking to make it a trio of wins for the campaign on home soil. The side who were relegated from National One last season welcome newly promoted South Leicester who won the National Three Midlands title last year.

South have had a solid start to life in National Two with two wins already under their belt. They  sit seventh in the table and have won their last two matches. This will be an extremely difficult game for the men from Welford Road, but they are sure to be full of confidence. 

Leicester Lions v Harrogate

Leicester Lions return to Westleigh Park after losing their unbeaten start to the season last Saturday away at Sandal. Despite this, the Lions are showing vast improvements from the side that finished 13^th last campaign and they will be looking to make it four wins out of their last five games at home.

Harrogate’s fourth place finish of last season is starting to become a distant memory. Having won just two of their last nine games at home, ‘Gate will be looking for inspiration on the road once again as they go in search for their eighth straight victory on their travels. Harrogate also won this fixture 20-30 in April and beat the Lions 25-5 at the Rudding Lane last season.

Chester v Otley

Both of these sides last season occupied third spot at one stage or another. With Hull Ionians and Ampthill and District rampant at the top the bronze medal position would certainly have been an achievement. However, neither side were able to hold on to that and both may harbour ambitions to go one further this season.

Chester currently lie fifth in the table and after a shock defeat at home to South Leicester two weeks ago, they came away from Tynedale with all the points last Saturday. Chester have won three out of their four matches this season and will be looking to push on with victory this weekend.

As for Otley, they started the campaign poorly with two defeats, but a win against Huddersfield and a very positive performance last week against Sedgley Park, has given them new found confidence heading into this encounter with Chester.

The men from Cross Green won last time out on their travels and will be hoping for an improvement on their last result at Chester when they were beaten 40-12 in January.

Caldy v Broadstreet

After four straight away games to begin the season, Caldy play their first home match of this campaign on Saturday when they welcome Broadstreet to the Paton Field. Considering they are yet to play in front of the Caldy faithful this year, they have picked up three wins from four with their only defeat coming away at Macclesfield. The Wirral side also lost just three times at home last season.

In terms of Broadstreet, it really is four weeks they would like to forget. No wins and just one bonus point to their name so far, leaves them bottom of the table. Having said that, ‘Street battled hard against Macclesfield last week so there are signs of improvement to take into this weekend.  Broadstreet did beat Caldy the last time the sides met, but were beaten 14-12 last time they were on the Wirral.

Stourbridge v Preston Grasshoppers

It’s fair to say both of these sides have had mixed starts to the season. Stour lost to Caldy two weeks ago, put impressed away at Harrogate last Saturday to pick up their second win of the season.  After heavy injuries last season, Stourbridge recruited massively in the summer so they may be still a little rusty in these opening weekends.

As for Preston, they will want to banish any memory of their heart-breaking defeat to Caldy last week. Garth Dew’s men will be searching for their first win on the road too and if history is anything to go by, it will be a tight affair on Saturday. Preston have won 11 out of the last 27 meetings between the teams, but did lose 46-36 at Stourton Park last season.

Sale FC v Tynedale

It really hasn’t been plain sailing for Tynedale since their first even relegation into National Two.  They have picked up just one win so far, but their new squad is still trying to find its feet. They are also still yet to win on their travels.

They go to Heywood Road this weekend to take on Sale FC who picked up their first victory since promotion last time they played on home soil. That win over Broadstreet was not backed up last weekend as Sale lost to South Leicester, but they will be hoping to keep up their good home performances so far.