Taunton looking to stay in control of National Two South

Apart from Hartpury College, Taunton Titans are the only side to pick up maximum points across the top three National Leagues and the men from Hyde Park will be keen to maintain their good start.

Last season, Andy Yapp’s side flew out of the blocks and were top of the division at this stage and now they are looking for history to repeat itself again this weekend. Taunton are back at home while Bishops Stortford, Chinnor and the Old Elthamians will also be eager to keep up their winning starts.

Elsewhere, Cinderford and Redruth will be hoping for reactions following their defeats last Saturday while winless Barnes, Clifton, Exmouth and Barnstaple will be hoping a maiden victory is just around the corner.

Taunton Titans v Bury St Edmunds

Taunton Titans are hoping to crack the code and finish in a top two spot this season.  They finished just two points outside the promotion places in 2014/15 and after a promising start to the last campaign, the Titans struggled to string together consistent results to give themselves a shot at National One.

After finishing fifth last term, Andy Yapp’s men will be looking to continue their 100 per cent start to the season when they welcome Bury St Edmunds to Hyde Park this weekend. Taunton have picked up maximum points so far thanks to wins over the Redingensians, Exmouth and Barnes so will be looking to take another five points from this game.

But that will not be a straight forward task. Bury travel to Somerset on Saturday on the back of an excellent win. Bury ended Worthing Raiders’ unbeaten start to the season last weekend to claim their second victory of the campaign and they’ll make this trip looking for back to back wins for the first time since March.

Gavin Hogg’s side impressed last season following promotion from National Three and will be looking to achieve something similar this time around after two wins from their first three games of this season. That latest victory over Worthing will have given them great confidence, but Bury will have to be at their very best to get anything from this game against a rampant Taunton outfit.

Bishops Stortford v Old Elthamians

After finishing third last season in National Two South, Bishops Storford have started like a team that means business this term. Following play-off heartache in 2015 and that strong campaign last year, Stortford have been firing on all cylinders so far this term with victories over Barnes, Bury St Edmunds and Cinderford.

In my opinion, Andy Long’s men will be certainly in the mix for promotion heading into the final few weeks of this season after their 100 per cent start to this campaign. They host the Old Elthamians at Silver Leys this weekend where they have lost just one of the last 16 matches meaning a home win might be likely here.

The Old Elthamians might have something to say about that though as they are also in excellent form at the moment. Two eighth place finishes in as many years as stabilised the OE’s position in National Two South and they are now looking to push on from that which their recent form certainly indicates having won their first three games of the season.

Gavin Lach’s men beat Barnstaple and Canterbury on the road before christening their new home with a 46-19 win over Clifton last weekend. Confidence appears to be high at the OE’s and they might fancy their chances of getting something from Hertfordshire this weekend.

Chinnor v Barnstaple

Chinnor have been excellent in National Two South so far this season and I can see their superb start lasting for a little while longer. The Black and Whites had a torrid time of things last campaign where they were battling against relegation, but eight wins from their final 10 matches secured their status at this level for another year.

It seems like they have carried that momentum into this season as Matt Williams’ squad have picked up three straight wins against London Irish Wild Geese, Henley Hawks and Redruth. The victories against Henley and Redruth really do highlight the ambitions of the side this term and confidence will be reasonably high when they host Barnstaple tomorrow.

They may well be targeting their fourth win on the bounce as visiting Barnstaple are not in the best of form at the moment. Barum have suffered three straight defeats in their first season in National Two South, but there have been flickers of what they are capable off in those losses.

In their last game against Canterbury, Barnstaple produced a late rally to pick up their first point of the season which was vital as it would’ve lifted the spirts at Pottington Road. They will now take this potentially tricky trip to Chinnor on Saturday searching for their first victory at this level and if they show some of that grit and determination they showed when they faced Canterbury, they may get a result this weekend.

Worthing Raiders v Cinderford

Worthing Raiders’ form in National Two South is what we expected to be thus far. After finishing fifth in 2014/15, they had a difficult year last term as they fought off relegation but they began the season looking back to their best with wins over Exmouth and Barnes.

However, their unbeaten start came to an end six days ago when they lost away at Bury St Edmunds which would have dented their early season optimism. Now, Worthing will be looking to respond back at home this weekend, but face a tough test against Cinderford.

Cinderford probably have more expectations on them this season due to the fact they were relegated from National One in May. They have begun life in National Two quite well having accumulated 10 points from their opening three matches with impressive victories over Canterbury and Clifton.

Like their Saturday opponents Worthing, Cinderford suffered their first defeat of the season last weekend when they went down 22-15 at home to Bishops Stortford. They too will be after a reaction this Saturday as they look to bounce back to form, but it won’t be easy away from home.

Redruth v Redingensians

Redruth have endured a relatively good start to the season. Having finished fourth in the table last season and changing their Head Coach in the summer, The Reds were hoping to push on from last term and they look to be doing just that as things stand.

Marek Churcher’s men have managed victories over Barnstaple and Henley Hawks so far this season with both coming at the Recreation Ground. However, they lost their first away match in National Two South against Chinnor so Redruth will be looking to bounce back from that loss on Saturday. The Reds have won 14 of their last 17 games on home soil.

The Redingensians are beginning their second season in National Two South following promotion in 2015. The club finished seventh last term to confirm their place at this level for another year and the Rams will be hoping to replicate or better last season’s achievements this time around.

It has been a tough start for the Redingensians so far though. After picking up a win against London Irish Wild Geese, they’ve been beaten by Taunton and Henley Hawks, both occurring at Old Bath Road. The long trip to Cornwall is a tough one, but the Rams will be desperate for it to be a successful one.

Clifton v Canterbury

Clifton have endured a difficult start to this National Two South campaign. After a 13^th placed finish last season, the South Gloucestershire side have lost all three of their matches this term with away defeats coming at Bury St Edmunds and the Old Elthamians while Cinderford beat them at home.

It leaves Clifton in the bottom three of the table at this early stage of the season and this stuttering start is a cause for concern for the side. Clifton have won just four of their last 23 league games and it is clear they need to stop the rot sooner rather than later otherwise this could be a long season for Darren Lloyd and his coaching staff.

Canterbury don’t seem to have been able to get rid of their inconsistency problems just yet, but I think they will be satisfied with the way they have begun this campaign. Bonus point defeats against Worthing Raiders and the Old Elthamians was followed by their first win of the season last weekend away at Barnstaple.

The City Men had a very mixed season in 2015/16 where they won 13 and lost 17 of their 30 matches so they will be hoping to avoid that this season and build on their positive performances so far. Canterbury may very well fancy their chances this weekend against a Clifton side short on confidence.

Henley Hawks v Exmouth

Henley Hawks were one of the three teams to drop into National Two South this year. After promotion from this division in 2015, the Hawks immediately returned to the fourth tier after finishing bottom of National One in what was a very tough season for the side. Now back at this level, they may have fancied bouncing straight back, but their poor start to the new season may hamper their ambitions.

Promotion candidates Redruth secured a win over the Hawks on the opening day and Henley were unable to recover from that as they went down 22-13 to Chinnor at home. However, last weekend they picked up their maiden victory over the Redingensians and they will be looking to build on that first win this Saturday back at Dry Leas.

I think it is fair to say that Exmouth’s start to the campaign has been equally as a tough, but they have been unable to get a point on the board thus far. Last season’s National Three South play-off winners knew they might be in for a tough start to the season and that has been the case.

After losing at home on the opening day to Worthing Raiders, Exmouth were thumped by Taunton Titans before falling to another home defeat last weekend against fellow newly-promoted side London Irish Wild Geese. Can Exmouth put those disappointing defeats behind them and get off the mark this weekend?

London Irish Wild Geese v Barnes

London Irish Wild Geese may well be looking to avoid a relegation battle this season after promotion from National Three London and South East in May. Irish romped to the league title in the last campaign and supporters at Hazlewood will be hoping their side can have solid and stress free term this year.

After losing out in their first match of the season 47-10 away to Chinnor, alarm bells may have started ringing. It didn’t help when they lost to the Redingensians in their first home match of the season, but a hard-fought win over Exmouth last time out will have eased those concerns somewhat. A victory in front of their own supporters this weekend could be a catalyst for the season for Irish.

Barnes, along with Exmouth, Barnstaple Clifton, are one of only four teams in National Two South without a win from their first three matches of the new season. Barnes lost 20-13 to Bishops Storford at home on the opening day and that was followed by two more defeats to Worthing Raiders and Taunton.

After securing their place at this level for another year last season, Barnes will be desperate to return to winning ways as it is now just one win in their last 11 league matches. This could provide the perfect opportunity for Barnes to get out of this rut as they take on one of the newly-promoted sides in this division.