National Two South: Taunton made to work to maintain perfect record

Taunton are now the only side across National Two with a 100 per cent record as they claimed their sixth bonus point win on Saturday.

Clifton continue to surprise everyone as they moved up to second in the table while Cambridge and Old Albanian are not far behind.

Elsewhere, Redruth returned to winning ways,  Barnes made it back to back victories while Chinnor and Launceston still search for their elusive first wins.  Here is a round-up from Week Six in National Two South.

Taunton 26-22 Bury St Edmunds

Current league leaders Taunton did make six bonus points wins from six, but were made to work for the victory against a battling Bury St Edmunds side.

Taunton were the better team in the first half as two tries from Nicholas Mason and scores by Benjamin Turner and Jack Claydon gave them a 26-10 lead at the break.

Hooker Beau Gibson scored Bury’s try in the first half with Christopher Lord kicking five points.

After the interval, Taunton were unable to score any points as Bury slowly fought their way back into the contest as Lord crossed five minutes into the second period.

But, their comeback was halted when Tim Mann and Sean Stapleton were both sin-binned inside five minutes.

However, Bury made sure they were going to take two points away from Hyde Park as Stapleton crossed on 72 minutes.

Clifton 41-7 Redingensians

Clifton continue to march up this division as their fifth win of the season saw them move up to second place in National Two South.

The hosts ran in seven tries with a hat-trick coming from winger Elias Caven and a brace from William Pomphrey.

Joseph Quinn and Ian Clark opened the scoring for Clifton who secured their bonus point on 27 minutes as Caven added his first two tries before the half hour mark.

The Redingsensians crossed on 48 minutes through Jack Steadman, but two from Pomphrey and another from Caven added the gloss on an efficient Clifton display.

Canterbury 17-33 Cambridge

Cambridge claimed their fifth win of the campaign with a commanding win over Canterbury who have now lost their last three after a positive start to the season.

The visitors led at half-time after tries from James Stokes, Brett Daynes, Stefan Liebenburg and Matthew Worral-Clare.

After Mason Rosvall opened the scoring for Canterbury in the first half, scores from Aiden Moss and Rosvall again after the break, reduced the score to 17-26, but a try from Michael Ayrton helped seal victory for a constantly improving Cambridge side.

Old Albanian 22-14 Bishop’s Stortford

The Old Albanian picked up what could be a vital victory come the end of the season with a win of fellow promotion favourites Bishop’s Stortford.

The home side were actually behind at half-time as tries from Mark McCraith and Stephen Ball gave Storford an 11-14 lead despite Harris Irving, Richard Gill and McCraith all receiving yellow cards in a 15 minute period. The OA’s first half points came from the boot of Max Malins and a try from prop Karl Garside.

And it was Malins who gave the hosts the lead on 48 minutes as he went over. Another penalty from the full-back as well as a kick from Morgan Thompson saw the OA’s ease to victory.

Redruth 34-32 Chinnor

Redruth ended a run of two straight defeats with victory over a struggling Chinnor side that are still without a win this season.

David Mankee’s penalty and tries from Luke Hattam, Thomas Cowen-Dickie and Samuel Parsons put Redruth 22-17 in front at half-time with Robert Martey, Jonathon Hopkin and George Blewitt touching down for Chinnor.

The lead for the Reds became 29-17 when Shaun Buzza bounced his way over, but George Blewitt’s second and a try from Samuel Blewitt clawed Chinnor back into the game.

With the score now at 29-27 with a quarter of the game remaining, it really was anyone’s to win, but Cowen Dickie went over for his second just after the hour to give Redruth some breathing space.

Hopkin then slotted a penalty for Chinnor 10 minutes from time, but home side held on for their fourth win of the season as Chinnor took their tally of bonus points up to six for the campaign.

Old Elthamians 49-11 Launceston

Launceston’s search for their first points of the season continued this weekend as they were beaten by the Old Elthamians who maintained their 100 per cent home record so far this campaign.

A ferocious first 40 minutes saw the OE’s secure their bonus point as a Penalty Try and scores from Benjamin Hough, Craig Dowsett and Thomas Brown established a 22-6 half-time lead.

The OE’s continued to be relentless after the break as Charles Edwards crossed before two quick fire penalties from full-back Thomas White.

Lee Nelmes was shown the fourth yellow card of the day on the hour mark after Dowsett and Launceston’s Rhys Brownfield were also sin-binned earlier in the second half with Tyler Gendall seeing yellow just before the break for the visitors.

With Nelems in the bin, Launceston scored their first try of the day as Ryan Western darted over to make the score 35-11, but further tries from Jonathan Webber and Brown again, rounded off proceedings.

Worthing Raiders 11-20 Southend Saxons

Southend continue to put in impressive performances and this win against Worthing was no different.

Tries from Aston Bevans-Royston and Daniel Legge helped the away side to an 8-17 lead with Worthing’s score coming from Samuel Aspland-Robinson.

A penalty from Sean O’Hagan reduced the gap to six points, but Bradley Burr’s second penalty of the afternoon secure the win for Southend who are now into the top half of the table.

Barnes 37-17 Dorking

Barnes made it back to back home wins with an excellent victory over Dorking who have now lost all three of their away games this season.

The newly promoted Barnes scored three first half tries through Robert Malaney, James Greenwood and Rupert Crossland to give them a 20-12 lead at the break; Kariym Irvine and Luke White crossing for Dorking.

Cameron Pimlow dotted down for the away side straight after the restart to make it 20-17, but scores from Matthew Cornish and Greenwood again put clear blue water between Barnes and Dorking with just 30 minutes to go.

Crossland darted over for his second on 67 minutes as Barnes eased to victory once again at Queen Elizabeth Walk.