Blaydon move out of relegation zone after vital win
Blaydon took a huge step towards safety after a third win in four matches
©Nick Meredith
Blaydon moved out of the bottom two places in National One after a crucial victory over Esher at Crow Trees.
Mickey Ward’s side have won three of their last four games which has seen them escape the drop zone for now and currently the north-east outfit are two points clear of the relegation positions.
Their victory over Esher was pivotal as both Macclesfield and Hull Ionians suffered defeats. Bottom of the table Macc, who are now 14 points from safety, were beaten heavily by Rosslyn Park while Fylde ended their away day hoodoo with victory at Hull Ionians.
At the right end of the table, Ampthill and District failed to stop the Hartpury College juggernaut as the runaway league leaders made it 22 straight wins for the season at Dillingham Park.
College are now 28 points clear of second place Plymouth Albion after the south coast side secured a fifth win on the bounce against Coventry. Elsewhere in National One, Birmingham Moseley and Darlington Mowden Park both clinched victories while Cambridge claimed a late draw at home to Blackheath.
Ampthill and District 25-51 Hartpury College
Hartpury College ran in seven tries to beat Ampthill and District at Dillingham Park and extend their winning streak to 22 matches.
Winger Jonas Mikalcius touched down while Joe Dancer and Jake Polledri also crossed for the runaway league leaders to give them a 22-10 lead at the break.
Will Goode claimed Ampthill’s only try of the first period and the hosts got on the scoreboard straight after the interval as Joe Tarrant dived over.
Matt Beesley was then yellow-carded for the A’s and the visitors stretched their lead through Levi Davies (2) and Ben Vellcott.
Mike Wilcox then grabbed Hartpury’s seventh try of the afternoon on 69 minutes as they outclassed their hosts in the second period, but the A’s did have the final say as they secured a four-try bonus-point through Will Allman and Loti Molika.
Plymouth Albion 33-24 Coventry
Plymouth Albion have moved up to second in the National One table as they maintained their excellent home record with a win over Coventry.
Tom Cowan-Dickie (2) Dan Pullinger and Harvey Skinner scored Plymouth tries as they extended their winning streak to five matches.
Albion were 15-10 ahead at half-time in a first period that saw two yellow-cards shown to Coventry’s Josh Peters and Fred Tuilagi, but a try from Tom Howe and penalty from Tony Fenner kept the visitors in touch at the break.
Rowland Winter’s side actually went ahead in this contest just after half-time as Brett Daynes crossed, but a penalty from Matt Shepherd and Pullinger’s score put Albion eight points in front.
Cov responded again as they were awarded a Penalty Try just after the hour, but they couldn’t build on that as Plymouth stood firm and clinched the win through Skinner who crossed on his debut for the club.
Old Albanian 7-33 Birmingham Moseley
Birmingham Moseley secured their third win on the bounce as they produced a peerless performance to beat Old Albanian.
First-half scores from Owen Hills, Jacques Le Roux, Greg King and Jack Preece gave Moseley a 28-0 half-time lead with the faultless James Williams landing all four conversions.
Jason Billows crossed for OAs just after the hour for their only score of the match before Williams wrapped up the win for Kevin Maggs’ side as he touched down late on.
Rosslyn Park 59-28 Macclesfield
Rosslyn Park thrashed Macclesfield to move up to fifth place in National One in a game which featured three penalties tries.
Two penalties tries and further scores from Andrew Henderson and Rhys Crane helped Park into a 31-7 half-time lead, with Tom Mantell crossing for Macc.
Jamie Harris extended the home sides’ lead after the interval before a third penalty try was awarded, but this time to Macclesfield.
Replacement Joe Palmer and Russ Weir then exchanged tries before Lewis Barker earned Macc a bonus-point as he dotted down seven minutes from time.
But, Rosslyn Park had the final say as Weir went over for his second try of the afternoon to seal his sides’ sixth win in their last seven matches.
Cambridge 23-23 Blackheath
A last-minute try from Mike Ayrton saw Cambridge claim a draw in an absorbing battle at home to Blackheath.
Trailing 23-13, the hosts fought back in the final nine minutes as Ayrton, who was making his 150th appearance for the club, came off the bench to score twice and snatch a share of the points for Cambridge.
The hosts had led 10-8 at half-time thanks to a try from Louis Rawlings and a penalty from Jack Green, but Blackheath battled back in the second period.
Leo Fielding added to his first-half penalty and a score Michael Perks by dotting down himself before ‘Club’ were awarded a Penalty Try to give them a 10-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
However, Ayrton’s introduction off the bench inspired the home side as he crashed over on 73 minutes before crossing the whitewash in the dying moments of this contest to seal a draw for the Blood and Sand.
Darlington Mowden Park 27-13 Loughborough Students
Darlington Mowden Park produced an excellent second-half performance to help them to a comfortable win over Loughborough Students at the Northern Echo Arena.
Four penalties from the boot of Josh Bragman gave DMP a 12-10 half-time lead with Charles Kingham crossing for Loughborough.
Bragman and Owen Waters exchanged penalties after the break before DMP twent through the motions and took the game away from their visitors.
England Students’ Simon Uzokwe grabbed a brace while Jack Payne wrapped up proceedings for the home side who continued their encouraging recent form.
Hull Ionians 29-31 Fylde
Fylde secured their first away win for just over a year as they beat Hull Ionians to seal back to back victories.
A try in the final 10 minutes by Ewan Stewart settled the issue for Fylde after the lead had changed hands seven times at Brantingham Park.
A first-half hat-trick from Scott Armstrong as well as a score from David Fairbrother gave Fylde a 26-17 lead at the interval, with Sam Wilson grabbing a brace for Hull Ionians.
Aquile Smith scored the home sides’ third try after the break and following a yellow-card to Adam Lewis, the I’s took the lead as they were awarded a Penalty Try.
They held their advantage until the 72nd minute before Stewart touched down for the decisive try to clinch the win for Paul Arnold’s men who are now 15 points clear of Hull Ionians who slipped into the bottom two.
Blaydon 17-7 Esher
Tries by Jason Smithson, Tom Bramwell and Jack Beckwith helped Blaydon to a massive result over Esher as the north-east side are now out of the bottom two after this win at Crow Trees.
The visitors were actually 7-5 ahead at half-time as Spencer Sutherland responded to Smithson’s early score to give the Surrey-based side a slender lead.
Bramwell then put Blaydon in front after great pressure and intensity by the hosts and this huge result for Mickey Ward’s men was sealed in the last 10 minutes when Beckwith dived over from close range.
