Wharfedale, South Leicester and Chester off the mark

Wharfedale, South Leicester and Chester picked up their first wins of the new season in Round Three of National Two North.

Dale’s victory over Hinckley was their first win at this level following relegation from National One while South Leicester and Chester will be relieved to taste victory after a tough start to the campaign.

Elsewhere, front runners Sale FC, Stourbridge and Sedgley Park maintained their winning starts, but Leicester Lions suffered their first defeat of the term as they were stunned by the Luctonians at Westleigh Park.

Also, Caldy moved into the top four thanks to a comfortable win away at Scunthorpe.

Sale FC 45-13 Tynedale

Sale FC made it three wins from three in impressive fashion as they eased past Tynedale at Heywood Road.

Sale led 24-6 at half-time in Manchester through tries from Chris Mayor and Jack Moorhouse (2) while Liam McGovern added three conversions and Chris Johnson also landed a drop-goal for the hosts.

Tynedale’s points in the first period came via the boot of Dan Taylor, but they were fell further behind just after the break as Sale ran in two quick fire tries.

The visitors finally got their first try on the board as Oli Walker crossed, but Matt Postlewaite’s wonderfully executed try rounded off a superb performance by Sale.

Stourbridge 49-21 Sheffield Tigers

Stourbridge maintained their winning start to the season as they ran in six tries on their way to beating Sheffield Tigers.

Ciaran White and Joe Heatley both scored a brace for Stour in what was a strong performance from the home side who keep themselves in the mix with the frontrunners at this early stage of the campaign.

Sheffield Tigers did threaten as they raced into a 13-3 lead scoring a converted try through Henri Packard and two penalties from Angus Bowyer, but were blown away after such a positive start.

Joe Bridger started the fightback for Stour before White, Heatley and Rod Petty all crossed before half-time.

White and Heatley added two more to Stour’s tally in the second period before replacement Alex Graham scored a late consolation try for the Tigers.

Sedgley Park 32-17 Otley

National Two North title hopefuls Sedgley Park secured a bonus-point win against Otley.

After a strong first half which saw Sedge lead 25-5 at the break, the hosts were able to see the game out in the second period despite a much improved performance by Otley.

Thomas Hodson and Nicholas Coupland both crossed for visitors while Sedge added another try to their tally to secure their third win of the campaign.

Scunthorpe 18-56 Caldy

Caldy ran in nine tries as they thumped newly promoted Scunthorpe, who have now lost consecutive National Two North games.

The Wirral outfit led 32-13 at half-time on the back of five tries, although Scunthorpe, who had lost just one of their past 14 at home, were doing their upmost to stay in this contest as a try from Ash Dibden, five points from the boot of Steve Johnson and a penalty via Adam Middleton gave the hosts a glimmer of hope.

Scunthorpe reduced arrears, but four more Caldy scores took them beyond 50 points in the second half. Scunthorpe, who were struck down by injuries, did have the final say as Nick Dyson touched down right at the death, but it was merely a consolation as Caldy proved too hot to handle.

Leicester Lions 14-16 Luctonians

Leicester Lions lost their first game of the 2016/17 season as a last minute penalty from Louis Silver gave the Luctonians victory at Westleigh Park.

The Lions had sealed a late win in their derby match against South Leicester last weekend, but this time they were on the wrong end of the result.

Leicester did enjoy the better of the first half and led at the break thanks to tries from Devon Constant and Sam Benjamin.

Charlie Grimes touched down to put the Lucts to within a point of their hosts following a great breakaway try.

Both sides then failed with penalty attempts as the clock ticked down before Silver stepped up in the final minute of the match to slot over the winning penalty to move the Luctonians up to fifth in the table.

Harrogate 16-34 South Leicester

South Leicester came from behind against Harrogate at Rudding Lane to earn their first win of the National Two North season.

Ryan Hough crashed over in the first-half for South, but it was Harrogate that went into the break 13-7 ahead thanks to a score from Luke Edwards and eight points via the boot of Charlie Morgan.

South struggled to make inroads until Gareth Clarke sparked a comeback with a try which was converted by Rickie Aley, who added a penalty shortly after.

The cool kicking of Aley was on display later in the half as his vision picked out Gareth Turner for a converted try to put the visitors 24-16 in front.

An Aley drop-goal and another try from Turner wrapped up the maiden victory for South while Harrogate remain winless after three rounds of action.

Chester 31-5 Preston Grasshoppers

Chester clinched their first win of the season thanks to a commanding victory at Hare Lane over Preston Grasshoppers.

The Cheshire side have really struggled for form over the last 12 months, but this performance showed just what Nick Joseph’s side are capable of.

An explosive first half from Chester produced 24 points, with Liam Gill, Kyle Joseph and Callum Bennett all crossing with Alex Burrage adding the extras on an impressive debut.

Preston improved in the second half, but despite this, Chester surged clear as they were awarded a Penalty Try just after the hour.

Will Lees dotted down for Preston late on, but this was a much needed confidence booster for Chester.

Wharfedale 51-33 Hinckley

Wharfedale were another side that got off the mark for the season as they ran in seven tries on route to a thrilling victory over Hinckley.

Wharfedale full-back Scott Jordan went over after two minutes before tries from Callum Dacey and Alex Norris sparked the away side into life.

However, Jamie Guy added a penalty and a converted try by Lewis Wilson saw the hosts take the lead which they would not surrender for the rest of this contest.

Dale led 13-10 heading into the second half and they scored four tries through Rob Baldwin, Will Lawn, Josh Burridge as well as a Penalty Try to put them in complete control of this match.

But Dacey along with George Marsden and Craig Filler all crossed to give Hinckley a lifeline in this pulsating encounter, but a late score from centre Harry Bullough sealed the first win for Dale since their relegation from National One.