Rampant Hartpury beat Birmingham Moseley to take command

Having dispatched all those before them so far, the one side that could possibly have halted Hartpury College’s unbeaten run were second placed Birmingham Moseley.

However, the league leaders continued their perfect record in some style as they ran in nine tries to emphatically beat Moseley. The result leaves John Barnes’ side 19 points clear at the top as we approach the halfway point of the season.

Plymouth Albion missed the chance to leapfrog Moseley as they fell to defeat against Ampthill while Blackheath looked back to their best with a comfortable win over bottom of the table Macclesfield.

Elsewhere, there were important wins for Fylde, Cambridge and Hull Ionians as all three sides look to move away from danger in National One.

Hartpury College 64-5 Birmingham Moseley

Jacob Perry kicked 19 points as Hartpury College extended their lead at the top of National One by thrashing their closest title rivals Birmingham Moseley.

The returning fly-half converted eight of Hartpury’s nine tries and landed a penalty to help guide his side to a 14^th straight bonus-point victory.

College ran in five first-half tries through Will Tanner, Ben Vellacott, George Boulton and Steve Leonard (2) which gave them a 38-0 lead at the break.

Moseley did score immediately after the interval as Michael Penn squeezed in at the corner, but their joy was short lived as Hartpury put their foot down once again.

Will Safe, Des Merry, Jonas Mikalcius as well as a Penalty Try completed the rout for the league leaders who are now 19 points clear at the summit of this division.

Ampthill and District 24-22 Plymouth Albion

Ampthill and District came from behind to record a narrow win over Plymouth Albion at Dillingham Park.

After Joe Tarrant had given the home side an early lead from the tee, scores from Kieran Hallett and Daniel Powell put Albion 14-3 up.

The A’s hit back through another Tarrant penalty, but a Hallett penalty and a try from Matthew Shepherd gave Plymouth a commanding 22-6 half-time lead.

Ampthill began the second-half strongly and were rewarded for their endeavour when Tarrant landed a third penalty before Sam Baker claimed the hosts’ first try of the afternoon.

Tarrant then kept his cool to knock over another three points to move Ampthill to within a score of Plymouth.

With the hosts now in control, their relentless pressure paid off as on 75 minutes they were awarded a Penalty Try which left them leading by two points.

Having scored 18 unanswered points, Ampthill remained calm to secure their sixth and final home win of the season while Plymouth missed out on the chance to go second.

Blackheath 55-10 Macclesfield

An inspired performance by Geoff Griffiths helped Blackheath to an emphatic victory over Macclesfield in their final home game of the season.

Club clinched their bonus-point in the first-half with tries from Jamie Davies, Mike Perks, Leo Fielding and Griffiths.

After the break Jake Lloyd, Mark Cooke and Tom Baldwin extended their lead before Macclesfield grabbed their second try of the day through Max Smith with their other score coming in the first period via Tom Mantell.

Smith’s try came whilst Blackheath were reduced to 13 men as Fielding and Terry Reid had been yellow-carded, but the hosts did have the final say as the impressive Griffiths rounded off proceedings with his second and Club’s eighth try of the day.

Coventry 43-42 Old Albanian

Sixth placed Coventry won a thriller as a late Will Maisey penalty secured them their eighth victory of the season against the Old Albanian.

The Old Albanian had a slender 28-26 half-time lead as they twice came from behind to put themselves in front at the break.

Ali Bone scored his first try for Coventry to open the scoring, but a Ben Palmer penalty and a converted Alex Dowsett score put James Shanahan’s men in front.

Owain James and Scott Tolmie then scored two quick fire tries to put the hosts back ahead, but yet again, the OA’s responded as another Palmer penalty was followed by another Dowsett try.

The first-half was far from over as James scooted over for his second of the afternoon before a third Palmer penalty and a try from Karl Gardside put the OAs ahead at the interval.

Palmer was superb from the tee in the second period as he extended the OAs’ lead with two more penalties and when Bone was yellow-carded, the visitors looked like they were in control of this match.

However, Cov rallied and a converted Freddie Tuilagi try moved the hosts to within a point of their visitors.

Their optimism was short lived as Jack Daly and further penalty from Palmer put the OAs nine points ahead, but Coventry weren’t in the mood to suffer their second home defeat of the campaign.

In injury time, Tom Jubb stormed over for a converted try and Maisey then held his nerve to land the critical penalty.

Hull Ionians 16-14 Rosslyn Park

Hull Ionians ended a seven game losing streak as they secured victory against an in-form Rosslyn Park in a hard-fought National One encounter.

Park exploited a slow start by their hosts as Rory Brand muscled over from close range in the fourth minute.

But two Lee Millar penalties before half-time moved the I’s to within a point of the visitors and they then found themselves 16-7 up inside the last 10 as Dan Tai touched down while Millar added another penalty.

Park battled back as Mark Kohler stepped up to bring the visitors right back into contention with six minutes to go, but unlike in other games this season, Hull were able to see out this match and seal an important win.

Esher 34-22 Loughborough Students

Esher claimed their fifth victory at Moseley Road this season as they came from behind to secure a bonus-point win over Loughborough Students.

Students took the lead as Gair Currie and Jordan Olowofela both crossed before Will Kaye slotted over a penalty to put the visitors 15-0 up at the break.

Rotimi Segun added to Loughborough’s tally after the interval, but the tables turned in Esher’s favour.

Andy Garner claimed Esher’s first try before Archie White touched down to reduce Loughborough’s lead to just five points.

The pressure was now coming from the hosts and they were rewarded when Garner forced the ball into the corner to put the Surrey-based side in front for the first time in this contest.

On 72 minutes, Loughborough’s task to move themselves back ahead was dented when they were shown a yellow-card and the resulting penalty was converted by Esher to stretch their lead to five points.

Loughborough were once again under the cosh and with Esher smelling blood, they completed their wonderful turnaround as Spencer Sutherland went over late on.

Blaydon 14-17 Cambridge

Cambridge scored three tries in the final half an hour to edge out Blaydon at Crow Trees.

After Blaydon had led 14-0 at half-time, they saw their lead slip away from them in the second period as Ross Stewart’s men secured their third win in their last four matches to move further away from the relegation zone.

Ruaridh Dawson and Andrew Baggett scored the tries for Blaydon and they were deservedly in front at the break.

The hosts were left rueing a missed penalty on 52 minutes as moments later,  Albert Portsmouth’s try for Cambridge kick-started their revival.

Portsmouth quickly added a second try to reduce the deficit to two points.

Cambridge continued to push for the win, but Blaydon stood firm until they gave away a penalty in front of the posts.

Despite the chance for a simple kick to take the lead, Cambridge went for the try and were rewarded for their decision as Lawrence Hutchinson crossed for the winning try.

Fylde 31-25 Darlington Mowden Park

Fylde secured a vital victory against Darlington Mowden Park to move them eight points clear of the bottom three.

Flanker Ben Vernon gave Fylde an early lead, but that was short lived as Darlington Mowden Park hit back immediately through Ben Frankland to level up the scores.

The sides once again exchanged tries through Scott Armstong and Warren Seals to tie the game up at 14-14 going into the break.

The pattern continued at the beginning of the second period as Jamie Barnard’s try for DMP was cancelled out by Tom Burtonwood, but the hosts converted their try to give them the lead.

That advantage for Fylde didn’t last too long as Seals nudged his side in front from the tee, but just after the hour, 19-year-old Connor Dever dotted down from close range to put the hosts back ahead.

Fylde then seemed to lose their composure in the final 10 minutes of this encounter and the nerves were cranked up when Seals added another penalty on 71 minutes. DMP then came close to snatching a possible win, but Paul Arnold’s men stood firm to see out the game.