Relegation rivals set up nail-biting conclusion
Hull Ionians clinched their third win in a row to stay clear of the drop
©Steve Oxley
The relegation battle in National One will go to the final day of the season as both Hull Ionians and Blaydon secured victories in Round 29.
Before last Saturday, Hull Ionians were two points clear of Blaydon and that gap did not change on the weekend as both teams sealed crucial wins. The I’s made it three triumphs in a row as an inspired performance by Callum Irvine helped them to victory over Old Albanian while Blaydon dominated against Rosslyn Park at Crow Trees.
It all means that the fight for survival will be decided this coming Saturday when Hull Ionians visit Darlington Mowden Park and Blaydon travel to Old Albanian.
Fylde’s position in this division was also not confirmed heading into the weekend, but Paul Arnold’s men have sealed safety after victory over Loughborough Students.
At the right end of the table, newly crowned champions Hartpury College are firmly on course to complete this National One term undefeated as they demolished Macclesfield while Plymouth Albion and Ampthill & District confirmed top three finishes.
Elsewhere in this division, Coventry made it 14 home wins from 15 matches as they beat Darlington Mowden Park while Esher have moved into the top half of the table following victory over Birmingham Moseley.
Hartpury College 92-7 Macclesfield
Hartpury College are now just one game away from completing this National One season undefeated as they thrashed already relegated Macclesfield to seal their 29th straight win of the campaign.
John Barnes’ men were out of sight at half-time thanks to scores from Steve Leonard, Joe Dancer, Luke Eves, Harry Cochrane, Joe Batley and Maliq Holden.
A Penalty Try after just 10 minutes had given Macclesfield a decent start, but the floodgates opened up after that and Hartpury continued to be rampant in the second period.
Mat Gilbert and Jamie Forrester touched down after the break while Leonard, Holden and Eves all grabbed their second scores of the afternoon.
The newly crowned champions weren’t finished there as Jonas Mikaclius scored a nine minute hat-trick to round off the 14-try rout in style.
Blackheath 7-48 Plymouth Albion
Plymouth Albion ran in eight tries as they romped to an emphatic victory over Blackheath to secure second place in National One and stretch their winning streak to 12 matches.
The home side took an early lead through Freddie Owen, but that was as good as it got for ‘Club’ as Kieran Hallet’s men took control of this encounter.
Robin Wedlake (2), Rupert Freestone, Herbie Stupple and Matthew Shepherd secured the bonus-point before half-time as Albion capitalised on a yellow-card shown to Tom Baldwin.
Freestone’s second try extended Plymouth’s advantage before a penalty try and a score from Tom-Cowan Dickie ensured a convincing scoreline.
Ampthill and District 35-12 Cambridge
Ampthill and District have finished third in National One this season after they comfortably beat Cambridge at Dillingham Park.
A Sam Baker try gave Ampthill an early lead but James Ayrton’s score tied the game up after 10 minutes.
The A’s were then on the back foot following Cambridge’s try, but they managed to soak up the pressure and dot down twice before half-time as Maama Molitika and Aleki Lutui both crossed to leave the score at 27-7.
Another Ampthill try, this time from Pete Weightman, extended their lead after the break but Cambridge’s attacking style of play was rewarded on 69 minutes as Oliver Pertrides burst over.
However, the hosts had the final say as Baker scored his second of the afternoon to wrap up Ampthill’s 12th home win of the campaign.
Coventry 36-16 Darlington Mowden Park
Coventry scored five tries to seal their seventh win in a row as they beat Darlington Mowden Park at the Butts Park Arena.
Scott Tolmie’s early score as well as tries from Heath Stevens and Will Maisey put the home side 21-6 ahead at half-time, with Gary Law landing two penalties for DMP.
Coventry’s 15-point lead was cut to just five points after the restart as Callum McKenzie crossed before Law added his third penalty of the afternoon.
But the hosts went straight back on the offensive as Max Trimble scored a wonderful individual try to put Cov 28-16 in front.
Indiscipline then crept into this encounter as both sides were reduced to 13 men in the final quarter of this match, but ultimately, Rowland Winter’s men dealt better with the flurry of yellow-cards and they sealed the win three minutes from time as Maisey slotted over a penalty.
Esher 35-24 Birmingham Moseley
Esher continued their strong end to this season as they sealed their fourth win on the spin thanks to an enthralling bonus-point victory over Birmingham Moseley.
The visitors did score the first try of the afternoon through Jacques Le Roux, but that was good as it got for Moseley in the opening period as Esher crossed three times to lead 22-10 at the break.
Kevin Maggs’ side did produce the perfect response after the interval as Tom Fidler went over to reduce Esher’s lead to just five points.
However, two quick-fire penalties put Esher back in control and despite a third try late on for Moseley, the Surrey side held out to move into the top-half of the table.
Blaydon 40-24 Rosslyn Park
Blaydon ensured their battle for National One survival will go down to the wire after they clinched a vital bonus-point victory over Rosslyn Park.
Flanker Jack Davidson and hooker Matt Thompson both scored twice as the north-east side stay two points adrift of safety heading into the final weekend of the season.
Frazer Wilson and Andrew Archibald were the other Blaydon scorers as they led 40-0, but Rosslyn Park rallied in the final quarter as David Vincent (2), Henry Robinson and Josh Ovens all touched down to seal the visitors a bonus-point.
Hull Ionians 46-33 Old Albanian
Hull Ionians remain two points clear of the drop as they secured their third win on the spin against Old Albanian at Brantingham Park.
Isaac Green amassed 12 points in the first-half to help his side into a 20-14 lead with the hosts’ other points coming via Callum Irvine.
The sides shared 38 points after the break and Irvine got the ball rolling for the second period to give Hull Ionians a 27-14 lead.
A try from Lewis Minikin stretched Hull’s advantage, but two quick-fire scores from Billy Johnson and Matthew Miles brought the OAs to within eight points of their hosts.
Irvine then completed his hat-trick before Johnson grabbed his second, but Tom Cotterill rounded off the crucial victory for Hull Ionians with their sixth try of the afternoon.
Fylde 32-21 Loughborough Students
Fylde secured their safety in National One thanks to a bonus point victory over Loughborough Students in Paul Arnold’s final game in charge at Woodlands.
The Lancashire side didn’t get off to the best of starts as tries from Gair Currie and Owen Waters gave Loughborough the lead inside the first 16 minutes,
But the hosts turned it around before the break as Connor Wilkinson and Chris Briers added to David Fairbrother’s earlier score to give Fylde a 19-14 advantage.
Briers was then sin-binned on the stroke of half-time and Loughborough immediately capitalised on his absence as Jordan Olowofela crossed.
Although Fylde had their captain in the sin-bin, they produced an instant response as Greg Smith darted over and two penalties by Smith in the final 25 minutes of the game was enough for the hosts to secure their first win in five matches.
