Old Albanian go top of National Two South

The Old Albanian moved top of National Two South for the first time since relegation into this division after their victory over Taunton, while Cambridge are level on points with the side from St Albans.

Bishops Stortford moved into the top four with a good performance against the Old Elthamians while Chinnor, the Redingensians and Canterbury stunned Clifton, Southend and Dorking respectively.

Elsewhere, Redruth moved up to sixth and Bury St Edmunds are now into the top half of the table just 11 games after promotion into this division.

Old Albanian 35-24 Taunton Titians

It was billed as the game of the weekend and it certainly lived up to that as the Old Albanian knocked Taunton off the summit of National Two South as they moved top of the division for the first time this season.

The OA’s held a narrow 12-7 lead at half-time with the prolific Max Malins going over for the hosts alongside forward Samuel Lunnon only after Taunton prop Jonathan Garford had powered his way over to open the scoring for the afternoon.

The hosts flew out of the blocks straight after the break as did Lunnon who completed his hat-trick 10 minutes into the second-half as the OA’s sealed their bonus point to gain a 25-7 advantage.

Taunton responded with two quick fire tries of their own through Jack Caulfield and Dan Frost to pull them right back into the contest and when Harry Bate was sin-binned for the home side, the onus was now on Taunton to turnaround a six point deficit.

Instead the complete opposite occurred as flanker Oliver Cooper-Millar along with Malins, touched down inside two minutes of each other to move the OA’s into a 35-19 lead. Paul Davis’ try four minutes from time was only a consolation for Taunton.

This is now the second time Taunton have been dislodged at the top of National Two South, but they have recovered before and they are still only three points behind the OA’s.

Cambridge 62-15 Barnes

While all that was going on above them in the table, Cambridge moved level on points with the Old Albanian as they ran in 10 tries to ease past Barnes at Volac Park.

Tries from Michael Ayrton, Oliver Walker, Lawrence Hutchinson and Albert Portsmouth saw the hosts secure a bonus point 22-15 lead at the break with Jack Franklin and Ciaran Smyth touching down for Barnes.

James Greenwood was sin-binned for Barnes just before half-time and the away side were duly punished immediately after the restart as James Stokes, Hutchinson again and James Ayrton grabbed tries for Cambridge.

The afternoon continued to get worse for Barnes as lock Gareth Baxter scored Cambridge’s fourth second half try inside 15 minutes before George Furbank and Portsmouth crossed for tries number nine and 10 to complete the rout for a rampant home side.

Bishops Stortford 26-20 Old Elthamians

Bishops Stortford moved into the top four after a late penalty try earnt them victory at home against the Old Elthamians – whose five match unbeaten run came to an end.

Craig Dowsett opened the scoring for the OE’s after 15 minutes but two fine tries from Wilson Baxter and Samuel Coleman gave the hosts a 14-5 lead at half-time.

Thomas White closed the gap to just six points when he landed a penalty for the OE’s on 50 minutes, but the home side stretched clear when Samuel Winter darted over just before the hour mark.

But as the game entered its final quarter, the OE’s mounted a comeback.

Jeremy Cunnew and Thomas Cobb both dotted down for the away side to give them a 19-20 lead with seven minutes remaining, but that late penalty try from Bishops Stortford stole victory away from the OE’s.

Chinnor 31-17 Clifton

Chinnor sealed only their second win of the season against a highflying Clifton side in a pulsating encounter at Kingsey Road.

Tries from Jake Olly and Palmores Lloret Salvadore gave the hosts a 14-10 lead at the break with Clifton’s points coming via a try from Samuel Harrison and five points from the boot of Bradley Barnes.

The away side then took the lead when Alfie Tooala Vaeluaga crossed on 52 minutes, but the lead lasted just five minutes as Greig Goodfellow sniped his way over which was quickly followed up by a try from full-back Oscar Heath.

With the score now at 26-17, Michael Uren put a dent in any chances Clifton had of a fightback as he was yellow-carded and that was compounded when Heath dived over for his second try in the final play of the game. A vital win for Chinnor down at the bottom.

Redruth 24-16 Worthing Raiders

Redruth coach Steve Larkins has said Exeter Chief youngster Jack Maunder is capable of playing in the Premiership even at the age of 18 years-old.

Maunder is on loan at Redruth and showed his class in his sides win over Worthing at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

The rising star may not have been on the scoresheet, but he certainly played his part in the victory as the Reds had to come behind to seal the win.

Worthing opened the scoring with a drop-goal from Sean O’Hagan and that was swiftly backed up by tries from Liam Perkins and Samuel Herwick to put the visitors in complete control.

Rhodri McAtee matched O’Hagan’s drop-goal with one of his own on 31 minutes and a yellow card to Worthing replacement Kieron Dawson opened the door for Redruth to stage a fightback.

Straight after the restart they took advantage of the extra man when Thomas Cowen-Dickie barged his way over and Redruth were given even more of a helping hand when Joseph Watson-Brooks was sent to the sin-bin for the away side just before the hour.

Bradley Howe didn’t pass up the chance to capitalise on the one man advantage as he powered his way home to give his side the lead for the first time in the match.

O’Hagan knocked over a penalty 14 minutes from the end to make the score 17-16, but the game was put beyond Worthing when flanker Benjamin Priddy spotted a gap to touchdown and seal the win for Redruth.

Bury St Edmunds 29-24 Launceston

Bury St Edmunds made it back to back wins as they came from behind to beat bottom club Launceston in an ill-disciplined affair.

The game saw five yellow cards shown throughout the encounter and it began just three minutes into the contest when James Salter was sin-binned for Launceston.

Bury took immediate advantage as Benjamin Cooper scored the first try of the game, but it was short lived as the away side hit back through a score from Richard Friend.

The sides continued to exchange tries as Luke Palmer crossed for the hosts before Benjamin Hilton did the same for Launceston and then came the second yellow card with the scores level at 12-12.

This time it was Bury’s Samuel Bixby who was given is marching orders  and Launceston used the extra man to score their third try of the afternoon through Salter.

Ben Davey joined Bixby in the bin for Bury straight after the Launceston try, but this time they failed to push on and Bury punished them for that as on his return to the field, Bixby dotted down just before the break.

With the score now at 17-19, both sides were down to 14 men when Launceston fly-half Fraser Honey was the fourth man to be shown a yellow card just after half-time.

Bury took the lead a minute after Honey’s dismissal as Samuel Goatley darted over and when John Hall followed suit on 57 minutes, it was the first time in a game one team had established a clear lead.

There was still time for one more yellow though, as replacement forward Sean Stapleton was sin-binned on the hour, but Launceston didn’t have a response with them only managing a try seven minutes from the end via Friend to secure them two bonus points.

Southend Saxons 12-37 Redingsensians

Southend Saxons suffered only their second home defeat of the season as they were outplayed by the Redingsensians who are now only in the relegation zone because they have won one less game than Worthing Raiders.

The Rams carried in a 0-18 lead at the break thanks to tries from James Baker and Oliver Poole and two penalties from the boot of Lewis Flower.

James Gutteridge was yellow-carded just before half-time for the away side and that allowed Southend to get back into the contest straight after the restart as Mark Billings and Chris Shields both touched down to reduce the score line to 12-18.

And that was as good as it got for The Seasiders as the visitors ran in three further tries through Tom Vooght, Ross Crane and James Foxley to seal just their third win of the campaign.

Dorking 16-28 Canterbury

Canterbury’s seven game losing streak came to an end against Dorking despite them having to play the last quarter with 14 men when Sean Nixon was sent-off.

First half tries from Mason Rosvall and George Micans put Canterbury into the lead at the interval with two Luke White penalties keeping Dorking alive and kicking in this contest.

Thomas Best extended the City Men’s lead to 6-15 after the break, but then came the drama.

Nixon was sent off for stamping while Dorking flanker Oliver Edwards was shown a yellow card for retaliation on 57 minutes, but the home side then responded in the right manner to the red card.

Ryan Jeffery sliced open to dot down the Canterbury defence after they ran the penalty, but all that clever work was undone as Canterbury stole the ball from the restart to make it 11-20 thanks to a try from Neil Wakefield.

12 minutes passed by a Dorking couldn’t make any inroads and the final nail in their coffin was the try from Aiden Moss on 71 minutes to secure the bonus point for Canterbury. Cameron Pimlow continued his good scoring form for Dorking with a consolation try four minutes form the end.