National Two South Preview - Round 16

Christmas is just around the corner and after league leaders Henley Hawks suffered a shock defeat last weekend to Worthing Raiders, they will want to head into the festive break in high spirits. Dorking will have other ideas as they will want to sit at the top of tree going into 2015 whist in the bottom half teams will want to give themselves a good platform to work from heading into the New Year.

Chinnor v Henley Hawks
Henley Hawks’ 100 per cent start to the season was halted by Worthing Raiders last weekend and they will be looking to remain top of the division this weekend with a win against Chinnor. Henley won their first 14 games of the season and during that run they did beat Chinnor 28-24 in September of this year. Chinnor go into this game on the back of two straight wins and have lost just two of their last 10 matches. The hosts currently sit in fifth position in the table and know they could be go into the top four with a win. That would certainly be an early Christmas present for Thame based side.

Worthing Raiders v Dorking
Worthing Raiders put in an outstanding performance against Henley last weekend and now face second placed Dorking on Saturday. The hosts will have to put in a similar performance this weekend if they are looking to make it five wins from their last six matches. As for Dorking, they can boast a better winning record. They have won their last 14 matches and are now just a point behind Henley after their win against Dings Crusaders six days ago. Dorking’s 14 match run began with a 18-10 win over sixth placed Worthing. This is a hard game to call.

Cambridge v Bishop’s Stortford
Bishop’s Stortford moved into the top three after their victory over Southend last weekend and have now won their last three matches. Stortford moved ahead of Taunton into third and look to go into the Christmas break with another win under their belt as they travel to Cambridge on Saturday. Cambridge were excellent in their 5-36 win away at Canterbury last weekend and are on a two game winning run which has seen them move back into the top half of the table. Stortford beat Cambridge 32-18 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season and have won two of the last three meetings between the sides.

Clifton v Taunton
This is the first Friday night game in the division this season and for Taunton they will hope they can end this month better than they started it. After the first week of December they had lost four of their last five matches which has seen them fall away from the title race. But last week, they picked up a narrow win against an in-form Cornish All Blacks and they now know with a win against Clifton they could move back into third. They have a 50 per cent record on the road this season (Won 4, Lost 4) whilst Clifton also have the same record at home. The 10th placed side have won just once in their last four matches and they did lose away to Taunton earlier in the season.

Old Elthamains v Canterbury
The Old Elthamians produced their best performance of the season last weekend as thy ended a three game losing streak with a win over Clifton. This weekend they host a Canterbury side that suffered their heaviest home defeat of the season last Saturday against Cambridge. The Old E’s have won four of their seven games at home this season whilst 12th placed Canterbury are yet to win away from home. The Old E’s do look favourites for this Kent derby, but did lose 28-15 in this game back in September.

Cornish All Blacks v Redruth
The Cornish All Blacks’ three game winning run ended against Taunton last Saturday, but are still one of the form sides in the division of late. They host Redruth this weekend having won four of their eight home matches so far this season. The All Blacks have not lost at home since November 1st whilst Redruth haven’t won away since the opening day of the season against Southend. The Reds have lost their last seven matches on the road, but will take confidence into this weekend after their 27-25 win over Lydney last weekend. Redruth edged out the All Blacks 14-13 earlier in the season and have won five of the last seven meetings between the teams.

Lydney v Dings Crusaders
The bottom four are all in action against each other this weekend and firstly its 13th placed Lydney v Dings Crusaders who are bottom of the division. Lyndey were narrowly beaten by Redruth last weekend after leading by 15 points at half-time and need a win desperately. They have won just once in their last six games but have won five of their seven games at home this season. As for Dings, they have had two tough weeks after playing the top two in the league and will want to find the form they had at the end of November where they won back to back matches. They have won just once on the road this season, but did actually beat Lydney 24-22 in September. That was one of their three wins this season.

Southend Saxons v Shelford
14th placed Southend were walloped by Bishop’s Stortford last weekend, but will feel this weekend’s match against Shelford is a great opportunity for them to end 2014 with a win. Shelford are 15th and after losing to Chinnor 14-12 last week they have now won just once in ten matches. They have also won just once on the road this season whist Southend have won five times at home this campaign and won their last two home games. Shelford did actually beat Southend 18-6 two weeks into this season.