Bishop’s back to the top

Tom Banks’ last minute penalty saw Bishop’s Stortford return to the top of National Two South after victory over title rivals Old Elthamians.

OEs had gone to the summit of this division last week after Stortford were beaten at home by Cinderford, but Andy Long’s men fought back in this battle between the top two to snatch the vital win.

Fellow promotion chasers Chinnor battled hard to return to winning ways while Taunton Titans and Redruth also made no mistake.

Cinderford’s impressive run of form continued as they beat Worthing Raiders while at the wrong end of the table, Barnes earned a second home win on the spin against London Irish Wild Geese and Exmouth secured only their second victory of the season against Henley Hawks.

Old Elthamians 14-16 Bishop’s Stortford

Thomas Banks’ injury-time penalty saw Bishop’s Storford move back to the top of National Two South after this dramatic victory over title rivals Old Elthamians.

Stortford exploited the ill-discipline of OEs prop Aston Bevans-Royston (who was red-carded after just two minutes for a head butt) by taking an early lead as Mark McGrath muscled his way over.

Ryan Hutler was then sin-binned for the away side, but Stortford were able to add to their lead in his absence as Sean Edwards touched down to put the visitors 10-0 up at the break.

The hosts got their first points on the board shortly after the interval as replacement fly-half and new recruit Will Robinson slotted over a penalty, but Stortford’s 10 point lead was quickly restored as Banks landed his first kick of the afternoon.

However, the OEs were refusing to roll over and they were eventually rewarded for their pressure as Robinson pinged over two more penalties to reduce Stortford’s lead to three points. The hosts continue to press and incredibly took the lead as Dominic Lespierre dived over in the corner with just minutes remaining.

Stortford had to throw caution to the wind and did just that as the clock ticked towards 80 minutes. Their attacking efforts led to them being awarded a penalty 35 metres out and Banks stepped up to seal victory for the visitors with the last act of the game.

Barnstaple 15-17 Chinnor

Chinnor moved to within two points of second place in the National Two South table as a late Basil Strang penalty secured victory over Barnstaple.

Strang’s 78^th-minute kick was the only points scored by either side in the second-half.

A Nathan Hannay try helped the lively Black and White lead 7-0 before Will Topps’s converted try and a penalty from Isaac Hydleman put Barnstaple ahead.

Their lead lasted just three minutes as Oxford University fly-half Strang scored under the posts, but it was Barum who had a one point lead at half-time as Matt Gohl surged over to make it 15-14.

The away side were then reduced to 14 men as Richard Thorpe was red-carded on 49 minutes, but that didn’t seem to affect Chinnor as they dominated large chunks of the second period.

Their endeavour and pressure was eventually rewarded despite some superb defence from Barnstaple as Strang held his nerve to slot over a late penalty and snatch the win for Matt Williams’ side.

Bury St Edmunds 8-22 Taunton Titans

Taunton Titans earned a dominant win in National Two South as their kept their promotion ambitions alive with victory over Bury St Edmunds.

Nick Mason and Jon Gartford scored in the first-half for Taunton who led 15-5 at the break with Sam Sterling responding for Bury.

Bury were quickest out of the blocks after the restart and Scott Lyle landed a penalty to move the Wolfpack to within a converted score of their visitors.

However, Taunton were able to dictate the match for the majority of the second period and killed the game off with a few minutes remaining as Tom Popham charged over for a converted try to extend the Titians’ unbeaten run to seven matches.

Redingensians 14-28 Redruth

Redruth’s first-half display and resilience ensured a bonus-point National Two South victory over a Redingensians side unable to take advantage of Palepoi Nonu’s red-card.

Nonu was dismissed shortly after half-time for a high tackle on Spike Chandler, but Redruth had set the platform for this victory in the first period.

Lewis Vinnicombe’s try in the corned helped the Reds lead 7-0 and the visitors capitalised on a yellow-card shown to the hosts by scoring their second try of the afternoon through Alex Ducker.

Steve Bryant’s try brought the Rams back into the game on 15 minutes, but scores from Ducker and Shaun Buzza helped Redruth into a 22-7 lead at half-time.

After Nonu was red-carded, Redingensians exerted pressure on the Redruth defence, but were unable to make inroads. The hosts were punished for not taking their chances as Brett Rule added another three points to Redruth’s tally from the tee.

Connor Corrigan did cross for the Rams on 67 minutes, but Redruth had the final say in this encounter as Rule landed another penalty to seal victory.

Canterbury 25-42 Clifton

Clifton ended Canterbury’s five match winning streak at the Marine Travel Ground with a six-try victory in Kent.

The City Men mustered up a penalty and scores from Hugh McCormick-Huston and Kieran Thompson in answer to first-half tries by James Newey (2), Josh Bayliss and Mitch Spence and eight points from the Brad Barnes’ boot.

Alex Giltrow scored the Lavender and Blacks’ fifth try shortly after the break, which was swiftly followed by a try from Dave Wheeler.

Only in the last 10 minutes did Canterbury produce a sustained spell of pressure which saw Guy Hilton and Will Farris cross for a bonus-point, but it was too little too late for the hosts.

Cinderford 53-18 Worthing Raiders

Cinderford’s superb recent run continued after the Gloucestershire sealed their third straight victory thanks to this win over Worthing Raiders at Dockham Road.

Home fly-half James Moffat kicked five first-half penalties to help his side into a 27-11 lead at the break with a penalty try and a Reuben Norville score adding to Moffat’s superb accuracy.

Rob Winchle, Harrison Yorke, Joe Mullis and Norville again crossed in the second-half for Cinderford with Moffat ending the afternoon with 23 points to his name.

Worthing had tries from Matt McLean and James Hadfield to show for their efforts, but spent too much time having to defend as their wretched run of form continues.

Exmouth 20-16 Henley Hawks

A controversial try from Mark Wathes gave Exmouth a much needed victory over Henley Hawks as the bottom club secured only their second win of the campaign.

Wathes, who was Exmouth’s man of the match, dived over late on to snatch the victory for the hosts, but it wasn’t without debate.

The home side were awarded a penalty and they decided to go for goal rather than the corner. However after making their decision they changed their minds, which according to the rules of the game, is not permitted.  Exmouth then scored their second try of the match from the resulting line-out and ultimately clinched the win.

In truth, Exmouth deserved the victory based on their excellent display in this encounter. They fought back in the second-period after trailing 8-0 at half-time thanks to a try and a penalty from George Jackson before Dave Bargent’s converted try made it a one point game.

The Hawks increased their advantage shortly after as Dave Harkinson crossed for a converted try, before George Meadows brought Exmouth right back into the contest with a penalty in the final 10 minutes.

Then came the drama of Wathes’ try, but Exmouth won’t mind at all as this victory could be the beginning of an unlikely revival.

Barnes 26-16 London Irish Wild Geese

Barnes moved out of the relegation zone in National Two South as they capitalised on indiscipline from London Irish Wild Geese to secure their second home victory on the bounce.

Despite going 6-0 down after two Pete Hodgkinson penalties, Barnes went ahead after a well-worked try from Tom O’Toole.

Hodgkinson added a third penalty to put Wild Geese back in front, but successive yellow-cards shown to Eddie Fraher and Ben Kitching allowed Barnes to take control of this game as Fraser Carlisle and Jamie Collins crossed to give the hosts a 21-9 lead at the break.

Back to their full complement, Wild Geese started the second period on the front foot as the prolific George Owen touched down, but Barnes then dominated possession and ultimately sealed the win when hooker Edouard Alteirac crossed just before the hour.