Teams eye New Year victories

The festive season is now pretty much over, but Cambridge and Old Albanian will be hoping the good cheer continues into 2016 as they resume their fight for the National Two South crown.

Taunton will hope both sides will be suffering from a Christmas and New Year hangover as they look to haul themselves back into the title race while Bishops Stortford and Redruth may fancy their chances of sneaking into the top three.

Down at the bottom, it is looking all but over for Launceston, but only five points separate the rest of the bottom seven as every point becomes even more valuable as we enter the second half of the season.

Cambridge v Bishops Stortford

It would be an understatement to say that Cambridge are enjoying a strong season. After a seventh place finish last term, the Blood and Stand have really pushed on in 2015.

All this has meant they currently occupy top spot in National Two South and five straight wins has kept them towards the summit of this division. They have played with confidence and freedom which means they will feel very capable of continuing their promotion charge this weekend as they look to maintain their 100 per cent record at Volac Park.

Bishops Stortford are enjoying a solid season. Following a run of four wins and a draw, Stortford find themselves in the top four in the table, but 12 points behind the top two.

Stortford finished in the play-off place last season and missed out on National One after defeat to Ampthill and District. They have found it tough to manoeuvre themselves into the promotion spots this term, but know that a strong second half to the season will do their chances no harm starting with victory this weekend.

Redingensians v Old Albanian

The Old Albanian are showing why they were one of the favourites to be promoted back to National One at the beginning of the season. With just one defeat to their name, the OA’s are currently second in the table, level on points with Cambridge and they are separated by just points difference.

That difference is just five points with both sides having identical records heading into the New Year. The OA’s have also won their last five games so will be confident of another victory from this clash with the Redingensians.

The home side are battling hard to remain in National Two South. After promotion last season, the club find themselves two points clear of the relegation zone at the halfway mark of this campaign.

The Redingensians occupy 13^th place in the table and their vital win over relegation rivals Chinnor just before the Christmas break will not be forgotten in a hurry by the Rams, but they’ll also be wary that they need to keep picking up points as without that win, they would be in the bottom three.

Barnes v Taunton Titans

Barnes are looking slightly less comfortable than they did two months ago. They won four games in a row in October but since then, Barnes have picked up just one win in eight matches. It appears that they are in a decline, but they have shown they are capable of stopping this rot.

Barnes lie 11^th in the table and are one of four teams currently on 32 points so a top half place is in touching distance for the side from South West London. They battled to a hard fought win over Redruth in their last home game so they will be looking for back to back victories at Queen Elizabeth Walk this Saturday.

Taunton Titians are the side lurking behind Cambridge and the Old Albanian and they have had a good season so far. The Titians were involved in a promotion race last campaign and once again they are in the mix for a spot in National One.

The challenge comes now for Taunton. They are nine points behind the top two which is the most they have been trailing by this season. Taunton were beaten by Worthing just before Christmas, but ensured they stayed in touch with the front runners with a win over Clifton last time out. They must stay focused to avoid falling further behind in the title race.

Southend Saxons v Redruth

Southend Saxons’ season has been a mixed one so far. The Saxons, who stayed up on the final day of last season on games won, currently find themselves 10^th in the table which is certainly an improvement on last term.

Southend have managed only two wins in their last nine matches which shows how inconsistent they have been this campaign, but they are level on points with eighth place so a top half finish is very much in their grasp.

Redruth are enjoying a great season. The Cornwall based side seem to have gone from strength to strength since the end of the last campaign and now The Reds find themselves in the top five and just eight points behind Taunton.

Four wins in their last five is the reason for Redruth currently sitting in fifth place and they have been in action over the festive period with a win over neighbours Camborne in their Boxing Day cup clash. They will be hopeful of another victory this Saturday.

Dorking v Clifton

2015 was a year of very little highs for Dorking. This time 12 months ago they were sat in the play-off place, but since then, they have unravelled dramatically. They currently sit ninth in the table having won six games this season, but do head into this fixture having beaten Worthing in their last match.

Dorking have triumphed three times on home soil this term and are only outside the top half on points difference which shows signs that they are slowly getting back to their best. They will be looking to make a fresh start in 2016 starting with a win this weekend against Clifton.

Clifton would have been happy with their first half of the season, but will be slightly worried with the way they ended it. The South Gloucestershire side won six of their first eight matches, but make the trip to Dorking this Saturday on the back of four defeats in their last five games which has seen them drop away from the top four.

Their defeat to Taunton just before Christmas leaves Clifton sixth in the table and despite the side having won eight games this season overall, only one of those victories has come away from home. They will be hoping they can double that tally this Saturday.

Old Elthamians v Worthing Raiders

The Old Elthamians’ fine start to the National Two South season seemed to tail off in December. After losing just one game in seven matches, the OE’s may have been hopeful of a top five finish, but that looks unlikely at this stage.

A three match winless run has seen the OE’s fall down to seventh in the table, which isn’t disastrous by any stretch of the imagination, but they will be disappointed with that. However, they will be targeting a home win this weekend over Worthing as they look to regain that confidence we saw earlier in the campaign.

Worthing’s form has been fairly good of late. They had won two games on the spin in December before ending 2015 with a defeat to Dorking, but those two victories have proved vital already for the Raiders.

They were in the bottom three before then and now find themselves three points clear of the drop zone in what has been an underwhelming season for Worthing after they finished fifth last term. They now have to accept what has happened in the first half of the season and push on in 2016 as they go in search of their seventh victory of the campaign this weekend.

Bury St Edmunds v Chinnor

Bury St Edmunds are enjoying the National Two South ride so far. Since promotion into the fourth tier of English rugby, Bury have performed very well as they sit in eighth place heading into the New Year.

Bury are in a mixed spell of form at the moment though. Three wins and three defeats in their last six matches does keep them in the top half for now, but with three other teams also on 32 points with Bury, they will be keen to get on the front foot as early as possible in the second half of this season.

Chinnor aren’t enjoying the season as much as their opposition. They find themselves in a race for survival as things stand, with their defeat to the Redingensians leaving them two points from safety.

That defeat ended a run of back to back wins which is the best run of form Chinnor have been in this campaign after finishing in sixth place last term. They head to Bury St Edmunds looking to bounce back this weekend as their relegation battle resumes.

Launceston v Canterbury

Launceston are looking set for National Three rugby next season. After fighting off relegation last term, it seems another escape is not on the cards this time around as Launceston currently sit bottom of the table, 22 points behind 13^th place the Redingensians.

Added to this, Launceston are still winless this season having lost 14 of their 15 matches – their only high point being a draw with Southend. It will take a miracle for Launceston to turn this around.

Canterbury aren’t in the greatest form either. Despite starting the season in fantastic shape, seeing them win their first three games, the City Men have slipped down the table in dramatic fashion as they currently sit 14^th and two points adrift of safety.

Two wins in their last five matches has given Canterbury something to cheer about and they will be looking to those victories for inspiration as they hope to turn their season around in 2016.