Caldy aiming to keep in control of their own fate
Caldy secured their 11th straight win last weekend against Otley
©Derek Salisbury
It has been the perfect 2017 so far for Caldy having secured three wins in January, but the league leaders will be keen to stay in control of the National Two North title race by ending the month with yet another victory.
Simon Verbickas’ side have secured 11 straight wins which has seen them open up a 10-point gap at the summit of this division and they will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to 19 matches this Saturday when they host Hinckley.
Second placed Sale FC have done a superb job to keep in touch with Caldy and the Manchester-based side are also hoping to extend their recent unbeaten streak when they host struggling Sheffield Tigers.
Elsewhere towards the top of this division, Stourbridge will be aiming to keep in the promotion hunt while Leicester Lions and Sedgley Park will try and keep their faint hopes of a top two spot alive.
Down at the bottom, Preston Grasshoppers take on Otley while relegation rivals Wharfedale host Luctonians.
Caldy v Hinckley
League leaders Caldy continued to march on last weekend, but they did have their first real scare for quite a while. With just under 10 minutes remaining they trailed to Otley, but four quick-fire tries turned the game around as the Wirral outfit stretched their unbeaten run to 18 matches.
Their victory over Otley was their 11th on the trot and the 10 point gap between themselves and second place Sale FC was maintained. Simon Verbickas’ men are showing no signs of relinquishing their lead as they prepare to welcome Hinckley to Cheshire tomorrow. Caldy have won all nine of their home matches this season and they will keen to end the month still in control of this title race.
Hinckley continue to hold their own in National Two North despite four defeats in their last six matches. Last Saturday, Chris Campbell’s side lost narrowly to Chester and once again, they are taking on opposition who sit in the top six of the table this weekend.
In fact, including this fixture with Caldy, Hinckley have faced five of the current top six in their last six matches. In that time, they have secured just one victory – that coming against Sedgley Park two weeks ago - but they have more than matched the likes of Stoubridge, Leicester Lions and Sale FC. Now the ninth placed side face arguably their toughest test yet since promotion last May as they aim to upset the applecart at Paton Fields this weekend.
Sale FC v Sheffield Tigers
Both Sale FC and Sheffield Tigers are having contrasting fortunes this season. Sale continue to grind out victories when it matters in this promotion race whilst Sheffield Tigers can’t buy a win as they look to avoid the drop. The hosts this weekend will fancy their chances of keeping a firm grip on the play-off spot in National Two North when they welcome their Yorkshire opponents to Heywood Road.
Jonathan Keep’s side have had some tricky fixtures in 2017 thus far and have shown real character and resilience to secure the victories against the likes of Tynedale and South Leicester. They are back on home turf this weekend looking for their seventh straight win and their 10th win in front of their own supporters this season. Sale are currently seven points clear of third placed Stourbridge and the odds suggest they will be able to maintain that gap this weekend.
This time last year Sale FC were batting to stay in this division, but they wiere able to turn their fortunes around to survive an immediate relegation back down to National Three. Sheffield Tigers will be aiming to follow suit this season as they are firmly in a fight against the drop after a woeful run of form.
The Yorkshire side had begun the season with four wins from eight matches following promotion from National Three North in May, but 11 straight defeats have followed which has seen then tumble into the relegation zone and the men from Dore Moor are now nine points from safety.
The RFU introduced a new regulation for this season due to London Welsh exiting the Championship which states that the highest 14th place finisher in National Two North and National Two South will avoid relegation for this campaign. This could come to the Tigers’ aid as they sit just six points off that position in the table, but all they will be focused on is trying to put an end to this wretched run of form.
Harrogate v Stourbridge
Harrogate’s revival continued last weekend. Their victory over Sheffield Tigers was the first time they had secured back to back wins since April 2016, but more importantly, the Yorkshire side were able to carry on pulling away from the bottom three after a recent upturn in results.
Gate are currently 12th in the table; four points clear of the relegation zone and head into this home fixture with Stourbridge having won four out of their last five matches on their own turf. Five of Harrogate’s wins this season have come at home and with David Doherty’s side oozing confidence, they may feel that they can upset the form table when Stour visit Rudding Lane tomorrow.
It will be tough ask for ‘Gate as Neil Mitchell’s side come into this fixture on a six game winning run with their promotion ambitions still very much alive and kicking. They secured a vital victory over Leicester Lions last weekend which leaves them third in table and the Midlands side just want to continue accumulating victories as they aim to hunt down Sale.
In the first part of the season, Stourbridge’s away form was letting them down and hampering any possible title chances they may have had. However, they travel to Yorkshire this Saturday having won their last three games on the road and a fourth victory this weekend will keep them firmly in the promotion mix.
Scunthorpe v Leicester Lions
In sport, there is nothing quite like securing a victory in the final minutes of a match and Scunthorpe were on the right end of that scenario last weekend. A last-gasp win against Preston Grasshoppers was much needed for the Lincolnshire side who have now moved three points clear of the relegation zone following that victory.
That triumph at Lightfoot Green did end a run of two straight losses, but Scunthorpe may be looking at the flip side of their recent form. The Greens host Leicester Lions this weekend having won three of their last five matches with two of those victories coming at Heslam Park. In fact, five of Scunthorpe’s seven wins this season have come on home soil so they might fancy their chances of gaining a result this Saturday.
Scunthorpe take on a Leicester Lions side that may still be licking their wounds from last weekend. They suffered a setback six days ago when they were beaten by Stourbridge and that defeat leaves them 12 points adrift of the top two, but they do have a game in hand.
Andy Key’s side were on a five game winning streak prior to last Saturday, but they will be itching to taste victory at the first attempt this weekend as they look to keep their faint hopes of a play-off spot alive. It is the second week on the spin the Lions are away from Westleigh Park as they aim for their sixth triumph on the road.
Sedgley Park v South Leicester
Sedgley Park’s season is slowly slipping away from them after so much promise. Once again, Dean Schofield’s side were in the hunt for a top two finish before the Christmas break, but back to back defeats against Hinckley and Tynedale leaves Sedge in fifth place and 13 points behind Sale. Is that too much of a gap for the Manchester-based side to overturn?
The Tigers are back at Park Lane this weekend where they have lost just one of their 10 games this season. They host South Leicester looking to end the month on a high and if Sedge still harbour a shot at the play-off place, this fixture has to be a must win for last season’s runners-up.
It won’t be a straightforward task for Sedge when South Leicester visit on Saturday. They are having an excellent season considering they were flirting with relegation on occasions last term and South returned to winning ways six days ago as they snatched victory away from Wharfedale at Welford Road.
The Midlands sides’ third home win on the trot leaves them a point outside the top six, but now they must start producing their positive results on the road. South’s last win on their travels came against Luctonians at the start of December, but they may fancy their chances of securing their fifth away triumph of the campaign against a rocky Sedge side.
Chester v Tynedale
Three wins to kick-off the New Year is exactly what the doctor ordered for Chester. After seeing out 2016 with a whimper, the Cheshire side are now looking to end January on a positive note, but the key for Chester is sustaining their good form.
They had an incredibly mixed first-half of the season where they would string a number of victories together, but all their hard work would be undone by a sequence of defeats soon after. Now, Chester will be looking to avoid a repeat of that as they have moved back into the top six of this division. They host Tynedale this Saturday looking for their seventh home win of the season as they aim to do the double of the north-east side.
The reserve fixture between these clubs saw Chester secure a 27-23 win back in October and Tyne will be looking to avenge that defeat tomorrow. They will travel to Cheshire in good spirits too after sealing an excellent victory against Sedgley Park last weekend which means they head to Hare Lane having won four of their last six matches.
With that in mind, Scott Lawson’s men currently occupy eighth in the table and will be looking to build on that superb home triumph over Sedge by following it up with a first away win since the beginning of December.
Preston Grasshoppers v Otley
It was heartbreak for Preston Grasshoppers last Saturday. Garth Dew’s men were on the brink of an important fourth win of the season, but yet again they saw victory slip away from them as they suffered another frustrating afternoon in what has been a very tough season for the Lancashire side.
Currently, Hoppers sit bottom of National Two North after another narrow defeat against Scunthorpe and they are now 12 points adrift of safety with a game in hand. With the new regulation which the RFU has brought in, Preston are nine points behind 14th place which is still quite a deficit to overturn. The focus for Preston has to be on the next fixture and that is against Otley at Lightfoot Green where the hosts have won two of their three matches this term.
Wins are becoming a necessity for Preston and away victories might be close to the top of the agenda for Otley. Hoppers may feel like a fourth win of the campaign is on the cards this weekend when you scan over their opponents’ away form and their current form heading into this Round 20 clash.
The men from Cross Green are still without a win in 2017 having lost their last four matches and they have only won one of their 10 away fixtures this term. Seven of their eight wins have come on their own patch and it leaves Otley 10th in the table and 11 points clear of the drop. Otley should have enough to avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap, but their away from and current form must improve sooner rather than later.
Wharfedale v Luctonians
It was the second time in as many matches that Wharfedale suffered an agonising, late defeat. Against Hinckley and South Leicester they have seen victories swiped from their grasp, but there are still positive to take from those defeats for James Doherty’s men.
Wharfedale will be keen to carry those plus points into this important fixture against relegation rivals Luctonians at the Avenue this weekend. Dale have shown an improvement in performances over the last few weeks and have won three of their last four matches at home which leaves them three points from safety with a game in hand. In fact, the Greens’ five victories this season have all come at home so they will be hoping to extend their excellent form in in front of their own supporters this weekend.
An injury hit Luctonians side will make their way to Skipton this weekend still searching for a much needed victory. It was the same old story last weekend for the Lucts who were beaten by Sale FC, but they did put in a very good display against the promotion chasing side. However, they head into this clash with Wharfedale having won just one of their last 13 matches which leaves them five points clear of the drop.
Alex Davidson’s men have not had the rub of the green with injuries, but it really has affected them. They have won on just five occasions this season with two of those triumphs coming away from Mortimer Park. Their last victory on the road came against Leicester Lions in September and their last win overall came on Bonfire Night. The Lucts’ season really does need to spark back into life and a victory over Wharefdale would certainly be a start as they look to move away from danger.
