Barnstaple take huge step towards safety
Jake Murphy scored the late try for Barnstaple against Exmouth
©Aaron Bayliss
A last-gasp try for Barnstaple secured victory over Devonshire rivals Exmouth in National Two South leaving Steve Perry’s side outside the bottom three with eight games remaining.
The narrow win for Barnstaple means they are now above the relegation places on ‘Games Won’, but they are level on points with 14th placed Barnes who have a game in hand. The London based side fell into the drop zone after a defeat against Redingensians, but their fate is still firmly in their hands.
Fellow relegation rivals Worthing Raiders suffered another setback as they were thumped by promotion chasing Bishop’s Stortford leaving the men from Roundstone Lane six points from safety.
That win for Stortford kept them level on points with league leaders Chinnor who secured a comfortable victory over Bury St Edmunds while Old Elthamains moved up to third in the table thanks to their first home win of 2017.
Elsewhere, there were contrasting fortunes for two of the other promotion candidates as Redruth suffered their first defeat in seven matches while Taunton Titans continued their impressive recent form.
Bury St Edmunds 20-50 Chinnor
National Two South leaders Chinnor ran in six tries to thrash Bury St Edmunds and maintain their place at the summit of this division.
Tom Burns grabbed a hat-trick as Matt Williams’ side recorded their fifth consecutive win which keeps them ahead of Bishop’s Stortford in the table.
Basil Strang, Alex Bradley, Charlie Broughton as well as a penalty try completed the scoring for the visitors, while 15 points from Scott Lyle and a penalty try was what Bury had to show from a spirited display against the league leaders.
Bishop’s Stortford 52-14 Worthing Raiders
Bishop’s Stortford secured a bonus-point win over Worthing Raiders to stay level on points with National Two South leaders Chinnor.
Second-placed Stortford, who still have a game in hand over the table toppers, were 26-0 ahead at half-time with Steve Ball (2), Tom Banks and Matt Tomlinson crossing.
Jimmy Rea grabbed Stortford’s fifth try after the restart before Worthing claimed their first try of the afternoon through Finlay Coxon-Smith.
But, Stortford soon took control again as Dan Elsom, Dec Caulfield and Banks completed the rout for the home side while Harry Forrest scored a late consolation for the Raiders.
Old Elthamians 39-20 Henley Hawks
Old Elthamians have moved up to third in the National Two South table thanks to an assured victory over Henley Hawks at College Meadows.
OEs hadn’t won at home in 2017 prior to this triumph and set about changing that with tries from Jay Rudland-Thomas and James Golledge inside seven minutes.
A try from Connor Hay was a great response from Henley, but a quick-fire double from Dominic Lespierre and Golledge tightened OEs grip on this contest.
Henley did reduce the deficit to seven points thanks to a score from Dave Manning and a penalty from George Jackson, but three second-half tries helped drive OEs to victory.
Tom White and a brace Nathan Morris saw OEs take a 39-13 lead before Rob Bell dotted down for a consolation score for Henley eight minutes from time.
Clifton 5-25 Taunton Titans
Taunton Titans dominated Clifton to record their 10th away win of the season as they continued to stay in the hunt for a top two finish.
Taunton full-back Gary Kingdom opened the scoring with two early penalties before tries from Sam Prior and Matt Tichias gave the visitors an 18-0 half-time advantage.
The hosts claimed their first try of the afternoon soon after the interval, but despite Taunton being reduced to 13-men during a period in the second-half, Clifton were unable to take advantage.
Once Sean Lonsdale and Dan Frost had returned to the field following their yellow-cards, Taunton went back on the offensive and secured the win with a Penalty Try.
This victory for Tony Yapp’s side moved Taunton up to fourth position and they are now seven points outside the top two.
Cinderford 23-21 Redruth
Cinderford secured their seventh win in a row as they beat Redruth at home to further cement their place in the top six.
The side relegated from National One last term trailed 14-8 at the break with George Evans’ try cancelled out by a double from Matt Bowden.
Henry Walker and Jack Shields crossed for second-half Cinderford tries to put them ahead and despite a score from Sam Parsons coupled together with immense pressure from Redruth, the hosts were able to hold out for yet another victory.
Canterbury 21-17 London Irish Wild Geese
Canterbury responded from their disappointing result against Taunton in Round 21 by securing a narrow victory against London Irish Wild Geese.
Hugh McCormick-Huston scored the opening try for the hosts and they built on that as Tom Rogers dotted down to give the City Men a 14-5 half-time lead.
Matt Killen had crossed for Wild Geese in the first period, but his side fell further behind just before the hour as Sam Kenny touched down.
But the Wild Geese fought back and deservedly left Kent with a losing bonus-point as Dan Grant-Adamson and Killen both dotted down in the final 12 minutes.
Barnes 22-36 Redingensians
Redingensians produced an excellent response after a poor start to crush Barnes and secure their third win on the spin.
After two early scores from Alex Crane and a penalty try, Redingensians fought back to carry a 19-17 lead into half-time thanks to tries from Tom Vooght, Steve Bryant and Ben Henderson.
The Rams continued to be inspired by their rousing comeback in the first period and scored two more tries after the break through Jordan Soutar and Miles Lloyd.
Rupert Crossland scored a late consolation for Barnes, but after such a promising start, they slipped to a defeat which now leaves them in the bottom three.
Barnstaple 13-6 Exmouth
A late Jake Murphy try snatched victory for Barnstaple against Devonshire rivals Exmouth to move Barum closer to safety in National Two South.
The visitors, who took the 59-mile trip to Pottingham Road, have won just twice this season and lie bottom of the table while Barnstaple are now 13-points clear of Exmouth after this derby win.
Exmouth had led this match 6-3 through two George Meadows penalties.
Barum levelled the scores 10 minutes into the second-half through Jordan Petherbridge’s penalty, but they failed to make any more immediate inroads and it look as though Jon Hill’s men would be securing their 10th victory over their rivals in the last 11 meetings.
However, that all changed when centre Murphy dotted down in the corner in the dying moments of this encounter, with Petherbridge adding a conversion to seal what could be a crucial win.
