Fron three in National Two South looking for fantastic five

Taunton, Chinnor and Old Elthamains are the early front runners in National Two South and they head into Round Five looking to maintain their winning starts to the 2016/17 campaign.

Table toppers Taunton Titans have picked up four bonus-point wins from four this term and sit two points clear of the rest of the field, but they are fully aware they can’t let this momentum slip with Chinnor and the Old Elthamians breathing down their neck.

The likes of Cinderford, Bishops Stortford and Redruth will be hoping to gain ground on the pacesetters while Worthing, Henley Hawks and the London Irish Wild Geese will want to carry their excellent recent form into October. Also, Clifton will be keen to back up their first victory of the season.

Elsewhere, Barnstaple, Exmouth and Barnes go in search of their maiden victories this Saturday while Canterbury, Redingensians and Bury St Edmunds will be looking to return to winning ways.

Cinderford v Taunton Titans

Cinderford have endured a mixed start to the new National Two South season. The Gloucestershire outfit may have beaten Canterbury and Clifton in their opening two outings, but since then they’ve suffered straight losses against Bishops Stortford and Worthing Raiders. Can they respond back at Dockham Road this weekend?

This match represents Cinderford’s fifth game at this level following relegation from National One last season, but they will be keen for an immediate return to the third of English rugby at the first time of asking. They will need to react to those two defeats against potential promotion candidates and this fixture against the current league leaders this weekend will be another tough task for Paul Morris and his side.

Taunton Titans have made a flying start to the new season. The Somerset club have finished third and fifth in each of the last two years and now they are looking to go one better this time around and break into the top two and challenge for a spot in National One.

And after four rounds they are certainly on course to do just that. Four straight bonus-point wins leaves Andy Yapp’s men two points clear at the top of the table heading into October. Victories over Redingensians, Exmouth, Barnes and Bury St Edmunds as given them the perfect beginning to the campaign, but this trip to Gloucester will arguably be Taunton’s first real test of the season as they look to continue their winning run.

Redingensians v Chinnor

The Redingensians suffered their second successive loss over the weekend. After a strong first season in National Two South last which saw the Rams finish in an impressive seventh place, they have only managed one win from their first four matches this term with that only victory coming against London Irish Wild Geese three weeks ago.

Since then, Mike Tewkesbury’s men have lost narrowly to Henley Hawks and then to Redruth six days ago and the Rams boss will be hoping his side can take some positives from those tough fixtures into this next game against another strong team in the division as they look to return to winning ways.

Chinnor came quite close to dropping out of National Two South last season. After winning just five of their first 21 games, the South Oxfordshire outfit went on a run of seven wins from their last nine matches, meaning they stayed in this division for another campaign.

It looks as though the Black and Whites have carried their momentum from the end of the last term into this one. They have enjoyed a strong start to this season, winning all four of their matches so far and sit second in the league at this early stage. Although they won just five games away from home last year, Chinnor are full of confidence at the moment and are more than capable of extending their great run of form at Old Bath Road this weekend.

Old Elthamians v Worthing Raiders

The Old Elthamians have endured an excellent start to the current National Two South season. After finishing eighth in the last two years this division, it seems like the OE’s are ready to push on from that as they currently occupy third spot in the table having managed four wins from four so far this season.

Coach Aaron Liffchak stated at the beginning of the season that inconsistency held them back on occasions last term, but there are no signs of that reoccurring thus far in this campaign. Victories against Barnstaple, Canterbury, Clifton and impressively away at Bishops Stortford last weekend has signalled the intent of the OE’s for this season and they will be eager to continue their great run this Saturday.

Worthing Raiders are the next visitors to the new College Meadows ground on Saturday afternoon and they’ve had a positive start to the season with three wins and one defeat from their opening four matches. Bob Aldridge will feel his side can challenge for positions up the table this campaign following the disappointment of last year.

Worthing were in a relegation battle for large spells of the season last term after a sixth place finish in 2014/15, but the Raiders now look like they are back to their old selves. Worthing haven’t won on their travels since the opening day of the season, but their win last weekend at home to Cinderford will have given them confidence that they can make it back to back victories when they head to Eltham on Saturday.

Canterbury v Bishops Stortford

Canterbury have once again had a mixed start to this season following an inconsistent campaign in National Two South last year. The City Men began last term with four straight wins then failed to string a strong run of results together for the rest of the season and it appears that they may have a similar problem this time around.

The City Men have picked up just one victory from their first four league games of the season and they welcome Bishops Stortford to The Marine Travel Ground on the back of a defeat to Clifton. Having said all of this, Canterbury have picked up three bonus points from their defeats so there are positives to take into this encounter on Saturday.

Bishops Stortford are looking to go one step further this season and gain another shot at National One. Andy Long’s men were beaten in the play-off two years ago and finished third last season so Stortford will be hoping to claim a top two place in this campaign.

They are certainly on course to do that as it’s been a strong season for Long and his side as three wins from their first four matches leaves Stortford sitting in fourth place at this early stage. They suffered a rare defeat at Silver Leys last weekend against the Old Elthamians, but their last four away matches have yielded victories – will this fixture follow the same pattern?

Exmouth v Redruth

Exmouth have endured a shaky start to the season following promotion from the fifth tier of English rugby. The National Three South West champions are still winless after four rounds, but having said this, they have played three of the current top seven sides already this term.

A loss against Worthing Raiders to start the new campaign was followed by a thumping at home to Taunton and a defeat against fellow newly-promoted side London Irish Wild Geese before they battled valiantly against Henley Hawks six days ago. If Jon Hill’s men can maintain that level of performance that they showed last week against Henley, they could well take something from this game on Saturday.

Redruth are in good form in National Two South at the moment and it looks like they are following on from last season. The Reds finished fourth in the last campaign and currently sit one place below that as things stand thanks to three wins from their first four matches.

The club have coped well with the change of Head Coach to Marek Churcher and victories against Henley Hawks, Barnstaple and Redingensians highlight this. They will need to keep performing to the highest level to keep in touch with the top two and a win this weekend at the Imperial Recreation Ground would do just that.

Barnes v Henley Hawks

Barnes’ start to the season has been a disappointing one. Jamie Turner and his coaching staff will have been hoping to put below-par results towards the end of last season behind them and kick on in their second term in National Two South. However, the Thameside club sit 14^th place in table heading into October without a win from their first four games.

Defeats against Bishops Stortford, Worthing Raiders, Taunton and the London Irish Wild Geese will have been tough to take for Barnes but there were positives in those losses, especially against league leaders Taunton, so they will be hoping to carry those plus points into this fixture with Henley tomorrow.

Henley Hawks have had a pretty mixed start to the National Two South season. The men from Dry Leas are hoping to bounce back to National One at the first time of asking following relegation in May and currently after four games they sit in seventh place, but appear to have found their feet at this level once again.

The 2014/15 champions lost their first two games of the campaign, but have responded well with victories the Redingensians and Exmouth. This is their first meeting with Barnes in three years and the Hawks do have a 100 per cent record against their opposition this Saturday. The visitors will be hoping that stat remains intact.

Bury St Edmunds v London Irish Wild Geese

Bury St Edmunds are looking for another positive campaign in National Two South this season. The Suffolk club came up into this division last term and finished in an impressive sixth place so they will be hoping to match or even better that achievement in this campaign.

With so many teams jostling for a top half finish this year, Bury can be fairly happy to be sitting mid-table at this early stage. They welcome London Irish Wild Geese to the Haberden having won consecutive games at home this season against Clifton and Worthing Raiders. Can they pick up their third straight win on their own turf?

London Irish Wild Geese’s start to life in National Two South has been a pretty satisfying one. Despite beginning their time in this division with defeats against Chinnor and the Redingensians, Wild Geese have responded in their other two fixtures so far, which have ended in victories over Exmouth and Barnes.

To add to Duncan Cormack’s good start to the season, his side find themselves in the top half of the table - one place and one point ahead of Bury St Edmunds. A win in this game will continue the momentum for Irish as they look to move further away from danger at this early stage of the campaign.

Barnstaple v Clifton

Barnstaple have endured a very difficult start to their first ever season in National Two South. Having won promotion from National Three South West via the play-off in May, it’s perhaps no surprise that Barum are having early teething problems adjusting to this level as they sit bottom of the table with just one point to their name.

After four consecutive defeats to the Old Elthamians, Redruth, Canterbury and Chinnor, they will be hoping signs of recovery will be on display this weekend especially as they have already played three of the current top five in the division. Barnstaple will need to continue to improve if they’re to avoid relegation and they do have the tools capable of doing that.

Clifton’s start to the season wasn’t going well until last weekend. The South Gloucestershire side lost their opening three games against Bury St Edumunds, Cinderford and the Old Elthamians leaving them with just four wins from 23 league matches.

However, a victory over Canterbury to end September could be the catalyst Clifton need as they travel to Barnstaple this weekend. Darren Lloyd and his coaching staff will be hoping to make it back to back wins for the first time since this time last year as they look to put a disappointing six months of rugby behind them.